A New Comer joined our water aerobics class last night. My friend took it upon herself to manage introductions. When she got to me she said, “This is Darcy. And Darcy is TROUBLE.” I got raised eyebrows from the Newbie, then a polite but wary smile. I could tell he didn’t know whether to embrace trouble or run from it. Either way was fine with me. It’s nice at my age, and now gimpy and all, to be feisty enough to be warned about. I was flattered.
Outwardly, my mother would have been embarrassed to have any of her children esteemed as trouble. I suspect, however, in the most secret space in her heart, my mother would have wrung her hands and giggled with glee to be referred to as trouble herself. She wanted to be a drummer in her high school band at a time when drums weren’t an acceptable instrument for a girl. She played the clarinet instead and learned the trumpet and piano on the side. She jumped out of an airplane and played more football and basketball with her sons than their father. She was a deadly ping pong player. She wasn’t just a sweet, sympathetic face at the other end of the table, she was a serious competitor and I always got slammed. I loved her enthusiasm for play. I think she longed for adventure. What she got was seven children.
In her later years, she got tired of waiting for her spouse to get some get up and go, and she got up and went by herself – bless her! She pursued passions and travel interests. She climbed pyramids in Egypt and rode camels, bartered for goods in street bazaars. She visited mosques and learned a second language. She saw England and New York. She went back to school and became a nurse. She took drawing and painting classes. At a time when the vast majority of my peers had stay at home Moms, my mother was the most intriguing Mom around.
They say the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. I sincerely hope that’s the case. If there’s trouble in Heaven, Mom, I hope you find it!
Outwardly, my mother would have been embarrassed to have any of her children esteemed as trouble. I suspect, however, in the most secret space in her heart, my mother would have wrung her hands and giggled with glee to be referred to as trouble herself. She wanted to be a drummer in her high school band at a time when drums weren’t an acceptable instrument for a girl. She played the clarinet instead and learned the trumpet and piano on the side. She jumped out of an airplane and played more football and basketball with her sons than their father. She was a deadly ping pong player. She wasn’t just a sweet, sympathetic face at the other end of the table, she was a serious competitor and I always got slammed. I loved her enthusiasm for play. I think she longed for adventure. What she got was seven children.
In her later years, she got tired of waiting for her spouse to get some get up and go, and she got up and went by herself – bless her! She pursued passions and travel interests. She climbed pyramids in Egypt and rode camels, bartered for goods in street bazaars. She visited mosques and learned a second language. She saw England and New York. She went back to school and became a nurse. She took drawing and painting classes. At a time when the vast majority of my peers had stay at home Moms, my mother was the most intriguing Mom around.
They say the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. I sincerely hope that’s the case. If there’s trouble in Heaven, Mom, I hope you find it!
