Making Amends

family

The bundle smothered in the white blanket is me…

“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” Alcoholics Anonymous

“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” George R.R. Martin – Game of Thrones

 

I am in Michigan for my mother’s 90th birthday party (like Joan Lunden and Jane Seymour, she had me in her 50s). When we pulled up to her house and the cab driver saw her waiting expectantly in the driveway, he said, “My God – she doesn’t look 90. She looks, at most, 70,” which I guess, on the cusp of 90, is a super-compliment about how good she looks while perched on patio furniture in the garage.

 

My mother is reading the Game of Thrones series and remembers the names of the characters and why they are all fighting for that chair that looks like it’s made of tarnished kitchenware… I can’t imagine I need to say anything more about the state of her cognitive abilities or how current she is on popular culture. I hope she doesn’t mind I told you her age…

 

There was a period of time, at the tail end of my alcoholism, I went underground. God knows I’m sorry about that. The good news is that when I turned up with a suitcase full of wrinkled regret, the Michigan contingent acted as if nothing had happened: like a four year gap was regrettable, inconvenient and certainly painful, but not a deal breaker. I love that about them. I love that about my mother.

 

There’s so much more to say. Just not here. It’s too raw. Too personal. So I’ll just say this:

 

Happy 90th Birthday Mother.

 

I love you.

 

And Mother, spoiler alert about Game of Thrones – don’t get too attached to any of the main characters – they ALL die in the end…

 

momtim

Check out the rosettes and the manicure – my mom with my brother Tim…

 

 

Today I’m not drinking because I’m going to a birthday party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!

fibirthday2

How come you’re not drinking?