Mothers and Daughters

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Earlier this morning I went for breakfast with my mom. She's a pretty cool lady for an almost 70 year old and I like hanging out with her. Even though I don't always see it, everyone says I am so like her - the good and the bad. Today one of our not so good traits almost caused us a bit of public embarrassment. Thankfully one of our other commonalities saved us.

We'd already finished our meal and were "arguing" about who was going to take care of the check. She wanted to and I wasn't prepared to let her. As we were exchanging silly reasons why each of us should pay, I noticed a couple of mid-fifties-looking men sitting not too far from us. Both were obviously quite amused by our debate.

As I stood up to settle the "dispute", I reached for my wallet. Umm.. no wallet. Why? Because I have a bad habit of leaving things like keys and wallets lying on my dressing table. Ah well, nothing to worry about. We were just teasing around and Mom, being the great Mom she is, always likes to do things for me. I knew she wouldn't mind paying.

She laughed as I confessed and happily reached for her wallet. Of course she had hers. She is meticulous about putting her things in their proper place and I often bemoan the fact that this is one of the few traits we do not share. Her laughter quickly ceased when she realized that she had no cash with her. Not a good thing as she is one of those from the older generation who doesn't carry credit or debit cards. Because she is almost always with Dad and he pays for everything since he's "the man" (ok, yet another difference between us) she doesn't usually carry much cash either but she does always have her "emergency $20" tucked away. Almost always. She had apparently spent her stash yesterday and had forgotten to replenish her funds.

Quickly we both scrambled to search through our purses hoping that for once one of us had brought our checkbooks. No. Sigh. Neither of us carry our checkbooks since hearing of a friend who had her purse stolen and had been required to pay a fortune in cancelled check fees.

As we pondered the possibilities of washing dishes as a trade-off for the bill, one of the gentlemen who had been eavesdropping stepped up and picked up the ticket before we realized what was happening. We listened in surprise as this stranger insisted upon rescuing two damsels in distress (his words, not mine). Despite our objections, he persisted. Before I could thank him, I watched as my mother reached out, rested her hand on the gentleman's forearm, looked up into his eyes, and smiled sweetly as she accepted his courtly offer. The moment made me smile because that same gesture is my natural form of non-verbal communication whenever I'm talking to a man that pleases me.

Throughout my life I have tried to absorb as much of her as is possible because I admire her so much. She's a very strong woman who always gets what she wants in the sweetest of ways. Whenever you're around her, you find yourself doing whatever you want because who could deny someone so kind and persuasive?

As I sit reading what I've written thus far and contemplating the need to make a point so I can close this post, I realize I don't really have a point. I just wanted to talk about her for a few minutes and in a small way offer loving thanks to her for being such a positive role model. She's a great mom and I'm so lucky to have been molded by her.