Stories
WHOSE DAY IS THIS ANYHOW?
I will never forget my first Mother's Day . . . breakfast in bed complete with a rose in a bud vase, waited on hand and foot all day, dinner out . . . you name it I had it. Now that's what Mother's Day is all about, right? Wrong! That lasted about two years and then our lives became so bogged down with everyday responsibilities I just never felt I could take a whole day to pamper myself. Maybe breakfast in bed would be squeezed in, but that lasted about fifteen minutes and was accompanied by kids and dogs, all anxious to take advantage of my perceived "trapped" state tucked under the covers with a tray precariously balanced on my lap.
Two years ago, twelve years into motherhood, I had just made the usual calls to both my mom and my husband's mother to wish them Happy Mother's Day when the doorbell rang. I had no idea how much I had missed the big "to-do" of my own Mother's Day until the moment I saw my husband standing at the door dressed as a delivery man and holding out an arrangement of irises, "delivery for Mrs. Stone" he said quite formally.
I reached out to take the flowers with what I'm sure can only be described as a look of shock. "Thank you young man" I replied as I accepted them, "would you like to come in for a cup of coffee? I'm afraid I don't have any change for a tip."
"Why, yes, thank you ma'am. I'd like that very much. Delivering flowers is much harder than most people realize you know." Ronnie joined me in the living room as I sat the flowers on the coffee table and went to get us each a cup of coffee. When I returned, he had removed his delivery man's cap and was gently rearranging the flowers, all three of the kids watching on with happy grins.
"Why look here! There's something stuck down in these flowers!" he exclaimed as though surprised. At that, he dropped all pretenses and extracted a small golden box and held it in his hand, saying, "Janice, I'm afraid I'm very guilty of getting so wrapped up in everyday things that I don't take the time to tell you what a terrific wife and mother you are. Mother's Day slides by with barely an acknowledgement, but today I'm going to take advantage of the occasion to show you my appreciation." He was joined by a chorus of enthusiastic "Happy Mother's Day Mommy. We love you!" from the kids.
I watched as he opened the lid of the box and removed a Mother's ring with birthstones for each of our children and slid it on my right ring finger. "Thank you sweetheart for all that you do. I apologize for not saying it often enough, but it's always something I'm aware of. I love you very much."
After years of Mother's Day being just another day, my wonderful husband and children had just turned it into one of the most special days of my life.
MONSTER TRUCK MAMA!
For the most part, my husband and kids treat me like a queen on Mother's Day. Last year, though, I was beginning to wonder if they had totally forgotten the day because all I was hearing about was that they had tickets to go to some big monster truck rally coming to town on "my" day! I kept trying to subtly remind them that there was a big day involved and all I got was, "Yeah! Wow! This is going to be so cool!" So, finally, I decided that if I couldn't sway them in my direction I'd just have to join them at the rally and consider it a treat of a different sort!
Quite honestly I had a terrific time at that truck rally. The roaring trucks doing unimaginable tricks, the speedsters who blew past us in a plume of smoke and flames . . . all of it was pretty exciting. I was getting into it so much that when my husband asked us if we'd like to go behind the grandstand and look at some of the trucks parked out there, I was the one saying "Yeah! Cool! Let's check these things out up close!" He just grinned and shook his head at me.
The kids and I held each other's hands and trailed David out to the area where the trucks were parked, oohing and aahing at the size of those things. We stopped at a big purple truck that had tires as big as my whole car. I was fascinated with its sheer size, and when David asked me if I'd like to get inside it, my answer was an unhesitating "Yes!" He asked the owner if that would be okay, and between him and David they hoisted me up until I was sitting on top of the world surveying my kingdom from a monster truck.
I put my hands on the wheel, not quite doing a "vroom, vroom", but close. I felt like a kid playing grown up and I decided at that moment that this really was a terrific Mother's Day.
I looked down at the dash to see what kind of gizmos would be included in such a truck and saw that an envelope was blocking my view. And the envelope had my name on it. I looked down at David & the kids to see them watching me avidly with huge grins on their faces. I picked up the envelope to find a small jewelry box sitting behind it but prolonged the moment by politely reading the very beautiful, loving card first. Then I picked up the pretty little box and removed the shimmering ribbons and gold paper. Inside was a pair of blue topaz earrings which I immediately put on and surveyed in the monster truck's rear view mirror to admire my family's good taste.
Climbing down to thank David and the kids, I realized that this truly had been a wonderful Mother's Day with my family and I wouldn't have traded it for my "normal" Mother's Day for anything!
IT'S A DOG'S WORLD©
My husband Kelly & I have a German Shepherd who seems to believe that if he's not barking, no one's giving him the attention he deserves. Sometimes I can actually identify with that, but for the most part I find it very aggravating -- and so do the neighbors!
Our new neighbor, Bob, had made repeated visits to our home asking us very nicely to please do something about Buddy's barking. We tried everything we could think of short of putting a muzzle on him. Conversations with Bob gradually became less cordial over a period of just a few days and I was feeling terribly stressed about the situation.
On Valentine's Day, a day when I should have been expecting a knock on the door from a delivery man bringing roses, I cringed when I heard the doorbell ring. Buddy had been barking frantically and I had banished him to the back yard so I could get a few minutes of peace.
I took my time going to the door, hoping that I'd either find a nice gift waiting, or if it was Bob he would give up and go back home. No such luck on either score.
There stood Bob with an angry scowl on his face. "Susan! I've really had enough of that dog. I don't want to have a feud over this, but I sure would appreciate it if you would try this muzzle and see if it tones Buddy's barking down a little bit." At that, he held out a muzzle and I took it from him.
"Okay Bob" I replied quietly as I turned and walked back into the house. I really hated to do that to Buddy, but if that was the only answer then so be it. I walked out the back door and knelt down beside Buddy to slip the muzzle over his nose.
As I looked down at the muzzle, however, I saw that there was something stuck inside it that would make it impossible to put on. I pulled out a small gift box wrapped in Valentine's Day paper and with even more curiosity than excitement I opened it to find the diamond teardrop earrings I'd been hinting to Kelly about for two years.
I ran back through the house and out the front door to find both Bob & Kelly waiting with expectant grins on their faces. "You guys set me up!" I laughed.
Kelly reached out and pulled me close in a hug. "Honey, Bob isn't even all that mad about Buddy. He's just been putting on a show the past few days. I wanted these earrings to be a real surprise when I gave them to you, and I think I succeeded don't you?"
"Did you ever. And I love you for it!" I replied as I hugged him back.
JUST LIKE A LITTLE BOY©
Frank's mother had always treated him with a great deal of love and attention. She faithfully attended all of his school events, never missed one of his baseball games, fixed him three healthy meals a day, and always emptied his pockets before putting his laundry into the washing machine.
Janet, Frank's wife of ten years, also loved to attend his "over-40" softball games and prepared sumptuous meals for him, but she put her foot down at emptying his pockets when doing the laundry -- she had told him repeatedly that he was a grown man and could be responsible for that himself.
But after years of begging, pleading, and nagging she finally gave up. Now it was just another chore.
Saturday afternoon was laundry day, and as usual she shook her head in exasperation as she lifted Frank's trousers from the floor and felt the weight of the usual odds & ends he had the habit of collecting. But she was in a forgiving mood today. After all, it was their anniversary, and she knew he would take her out for a lovely celebration tonight.
"That man", she muttered, as she reached into his pants pocket to remove who knew what. This time, however, the offending item was not so much offending as intriguing . . . a long, narrow package wrapped in gold foil and topped with a mass of golden ribbons . . . almost too pretty to open.
Attached to the package was a note that read, "Honey, there have been two wonderful women in my life; I'm thankful that you're one of them. Thanks for taking such good care of me. I love you very much. Happy Anniversary. Frank".
Anne turned and beamed with pleasure at Frank who was leaning in the laundry room doorway waiting for her to open her package. Inside was the most exquisite gold necklace Anne had ever seen. As she walked over to give Frank a thank you kiss, she said, "Honey, I love you too, and I think I can even put up with emptying your pants pockets for another hundred years or so."
HORSE SENSE©
My boyfriend Carl and I had been dating for several years when we decided it was time for us to get married. It was pretty cut and dried, not a lot of romance or discussion. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on a ring because we were saving to buy some property where we could have a couple of horses, a dream both of us had had since childhood.
We always reserved our Saturday mornings for horseback riding at a friend's ranch and one Saturday Carl told me to meet him extra early so we could watch the sun come up from our favorite spot.
We started our ride when it was still dark but both of us were wide awake and looking forward to the ride. I had baked fresh cinnamon rolls the night before and brought them along with a thermos of hot coffee. The plan was to ride up into the mountains as it got light and stop in time to watch the glorious sunrise over the pasture down below.
As we rode up the trail Carl reached over and touched my arm so tenderly it made me want to cry. I just love that man so much it hurts! I turned to smile at him and saw that he was holding a little box out toward me. We walked our horses off to the side of the trail and I opened the box to find a precious gold ring with little diamonds all across the top. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.
"Carl" I whispered, "I thought we weren't going to do this."
Carl reached over and slipped the ring on my finger as my eyes filled with tears.
"Joanne, I love you so much that I want every single person who sees you to notice that you have a ring on your finger and know that our love for each other is a special thing for us. That ring is nothing fancy, but the depth of love it carries is beyond measure. Will you be my wife?"
What a special moment in my life. That was fifteen years ago and I'm reminded of it every time we ride our horses up that trail to watch the sunrise together.
