Today, September 19 would have been my mother's 87th birthday. It's also International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This curious fact gives me one of my favorite memories of my mom.
It was about five years ago and I had just found out about ITLaPD and that it coincided with my mother's birthday. I couldn't wait to get home to tell her about it, it was just a few days away.
You have to know a few things about my mom. First she was a pious woman who did not use profanity or obscenity and she was not particularly sentimental about birthdays. I had gotten into the habit of buying her glass roses for her birthday and she liked this because they looked nice in a vase with real flowers and if she didn't have any flowers, they looked nice by themselves.
There wasn't anything she really needed or would admit to wanting so getting a gift for her was rather difficult until I found the shop that sold neat little glass items. I also usually took her to one of her favorite restaurants. She liked to go to expensive Italian places and order just a side of meatballs because she didn't particularly like pasta but loved good meatballs.
Mom also had a peculiar sense of humor. She wouldn't laugh at anything that involved someone getting hurt but embarrassing someone in authority could make her clap her hands and chortle. Silly wordplay would make her shake her head and smile but not laugh. She liked the absurd stuff kids could say or do and some of her favorite stories to tell involved things my brother or I had done or said.
At the time, I lived about twelve miles from Mom and went over frequently to keep her company for a few hours or take her grocery shopping or to the doctor. That year, I drove over to pick her up and go out for dinner on her birthday. She decided to go to Sizzler in order to save me money because she got a senior discount there. I knew she was just as likely to eat the baked potato and take the steak home to nibble on all week as to eat the steak there.
We got into the car and I said to mom, "You know what else this day is, besides your birthday?"
She said, "Is it Wednesday?"
"I said, yes, but it's also International Talk Like a Pirate Day."
"What?" she said and adjusted her hearing aid.
I repeated myself.
"You're kidding," she said.
"No, no, it's a real thing. Some guys just decided that it would be cool to have a day for saying "Arrr,' 'Shiver me timbers!' and 'I'll keelhaul the lubberly lot of ya.'"
She looked thoughtful for a moment and then she said, in her hillbilly accent, "Shee-it!"
We laughed until we got to the restaurant. :)
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
Pleasant memories.
I can see that you loved your mom very much. You will see each other again someday and in better circumstances, I know for certain.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Pen's Mum
It would seem that you and Pen had similar mothers.
Rosamond was also pious and hated profanities, just like yours. I had to make extra special effort when anywhere near her as my language tends to be somewhat ripe most of the time. Fortunately, Rosamond's hearing was on its way out - we think. Perhaps it was selective, we were never sure - as she was well into her seventies by that time.
We took her to an Indian restaurant one day for a Sunday lunch. It had been a sort of tradition, being as she grew up in India and was partial to curries. It just so happened that we had one of the best curry houses at the bottom of the road we lived in and we became regulars there often turning up mob-handed with the whole family for Sunday lunch.
On the day in question, it was one of the first days Rosamond, Pen and I had gone without the rest of the family and we sat down with drinks to wait for our food. I began telling a joke that I'd heard not long before and Pen went white. There was no end of bad language in it, and I could see Pen making signals to stop. I ignored her, removing the bad language, getting all the way to the punch-line and even made it funny - funny enough to make Rosamond and Penny laugh.
The relief on Pen's face was obvious and I can't say I didn't feel pretty pleased with myself.
Almost immediately afterwards, the conversation changed to Pen announcing that she needed to lose weight.
"You're on a diet?" Rosamond - a somewhat rotund lady - asked, incredulous.
"Oh, it's not the first diet," Pen informed her.
"You mean you've been on a diet before?"
It was true. Pen had been struggling with losing weight for years.
"Oh yeah," I said, still on a high from having both Pen and her mum laugh at my joke. "She's fucking useless with diets."
I went crimson, Pen refused to look at me, but I don't think Rosamond actually registered what I'd said.
Afterwards Pen and I laughed like drains, mainly at my embarrassment, but after all that care with the joke ... well you can see the irony.
I don't just look it, I'm totally trying not to swear all the time