Sleeping with Mom

Just before I left March 25th for the north of England to teach for a week, I received another couple of boxes of Mom's stuff from Pooge.  Packing for the England trip while unpacking a bunch more Mom stuff was a bit confusing because although I was excited to go to York, an ancient and beautifully preserved walled town, I also wanted to stay put here in Seattle and have the time to go slowly through all the treasures newly arrived.

Among the goodies were scarves she knitted, the mink stole - feet, head and tail still on - that either triggers derision, revulsion or delight (delight), some of Mom's everyday dishes that she loved eating from right up until her last meal, candles, jumble/brain teaser books, her high school class ring which slipped easily onto my middle finger and went with me, and some shorty nighties.

There was also a small pillow Mom made from tea towels, it features hydrangeas and the word "Alaska" so I'm assuming the hydrangea is Alaska's state flower but that's a guess.

Pooge sent Mom's bed pillow a while back, the one her head was on when she died, and it's been on my bed ever since.  I keep it in a special pillow case with psychedellic colors and wild patterns and it's on my bed, day and night.  I've now added this little tea towel pillow to the mix. 

My first night back, Wednesday night April 1st, was the first time I slept with both on my bed.

I stack them up, little on top of big, on the edge of the bed and I didn't think much about it until I returned to bed in the middle of the night after a visit to the potty and realized that I've arranged Mom's pillows so that it looks like she might be sleeping in the bed with me, right by my side, but has gotten up for her own middle of the night venture to the bathroom, kitchen or to stargaze. 

Mom and I shared many traits and one of them was our love of sleep.  We not only loved to sleep and never considered it a waste of time but we loved to take naps at any point during the day and when we were together, we loved to take naps at the same time.  We loved to sleep in until the whole morning was gone and we both loved beds, couches, Lazy Boys, divans, sofas, chaises, lounges, ottomans and anything else you could push together, rearrange or somehow lay down on. 

I was with Mom on her birthday last August and I loved it, absolutely loved it, that the morning of the day she turned 86 (87 really, because, you know, we don't count One until One is gone - we're really older than we think!) we both slept in, we both woke up at the same time (almost noon) and we had a lovely day together. 

With this 2-stack of pillows, I feel like I'm still sleeping with Mom and it feels good. 

Love and Prayers From Here to There.