A Message From Mom

In July 2000, I was visiting my mom during the summer.  She was living in an apartment outside of Buffalo, NY and I was still teaching in Maryland.  We have always been a little silly and enjoyed each other's company. 

We began chatting about odd things.  It came up that she had taken secretarial in high school and still remembered her shorthand and remained a whiz at typing.  I explained to her that when I was in high school, those of us who were planning on attending college were required to take a semester of personal typing.  She had once watched me type and mocked me for my two-finger method and refused to believe I had ever taken a typing course.

So we started sharing the classroom methods each of our teachers used to instruct us.  They were basically the same...right down to typing in rhythm to the March of the Toy Soldiers  and using manual typewriters.

Mom sat at her computer and typed up a short ode, demonstrating that she knew how to italicize, underline and use different colors.  Unbeknownst to her, I kept it and framed it.  It hangs on the wall in my bedroom.  It will always be something I cherish because it was a moment just between us when we were having fun.

As I took it off the wall to photograph it, I accidentally shot the picture which I used for the blip.  Don't know if I should have because my real goal is to have you see what she typed.  I decided to put the shot of that as the extra.  Please, take a look at it. 

I have since learned to try to make the day you're in your happiest day.  I believe that a day without a memory made is a waste of that precious piece of your life which you can never get back.   On the other hand, it's always nice to look back and remember the little moments.


By the way, it was on this vacation that I met Hillary Clinton during her first campaign for the US Senate.


The first of three consecutive bird blips which I posted this afternoon begins here with the Spin Dry Cycle.