My Mother

Of course, Mother was obsessive about the house, obsessive about stability, because her childhood had been distinguished by a lack of it as her family moved from rent house to rent house, depending on her father's employment/unemployment of the moment

She was a remarkable woman. Her single-minded ambition was to lead a respectable, middle-class lifestyle and to raise her children to do the same--and she succeeded. Education was the key: she was the first person in her family to graduate from college--at the head of her class, no less. Liquor was the enemy; she did not drink, nor did the man she married.

And anger was her constant companion, an unrecognized inheritance from her alcoholic father.

Eighteen years after her death, I understand more where she was coming from, which helps me benefit from what she did give me rather than resenting what she didn't--or couldn't.

Happy day-after-Mother's day, Mom. I love you.