Mama Says #6

The television was on and I wasn’t paying much attention. A human interest story came on, the sort that newscasters use to end a depressing report on a lighter note. A couple in their nineties got married, and it was the first time for the bride. Mom said, “See! She...

Mama Says #3

When I went to spend three weeks with my mother last summer, she had not been to church in a few weeks. So we went. She loves the music at her church. She loves the preaching. She loves all the elements of the worship service. But she doesn’t drive, and for various...

Mama Says #2

My brother looks after the shopping for my mom. If she has a hankering for something, she writes it on the scrap of paper at the corner of the counter and voila, it appears. When I was visiting with her, she decided to come to the grocery store with me. We were nearly...

Mama Says #1

I spent three weeks with my mom this last summer, just the two of us in her house in Florida. She said a lot of things I was glad to hear—sometimes hilarious, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes sentimental. The first one was,  “I’m 85, and I intend to be 95.”...