![]() On her first date, Mom remembers-and she has reason to-she arrived home five minutes after the curfew set by her father. Laws in her house were made not to be broken. Even as a teenager, there was no fun for her. Because of this, Mom made extra sure we had these. As a child, Mother missed the warmth and affection of a close family life, she missed the fun of Christmas holidays, the pleasant surprise of a birthday party, even the warmth of a goodnight kiss and a tucking in at bedtime. Because of this, Mom brought my brother Walt and me up to be very close. There was little family spirit little warmth, only a rigid firmness. She had a sister, two brothers one brother is Mom’s twin. Mother was born in Hamburg, Germany, one of a family of four children. A woman like this is not only a mother but a friend” She’s had the kind of courage that’s a constant inspiration to any boy-to any man, in fact. She’s had to go it alone almost all of her life she never had any love, yet she never gave out anything but love. My Mom’s a regular Joe! She’s an amazing woman-a real woman. To understand this, you’ve got to know Mom. I came and went, when and where I pleased. Well, if I am, they’re pretty long strings ’cause ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had free rein. But so many people think that because you’re close to your mother, you’re tied to her apron strings. I’m close to my mother-in fact, there are very few important things I believe in or hope for that aren’t in some way wrapped up in her. There’s a lot of talk these days about “mom” and “Momism” and the harm mothers do. I think maybe not having Mom, always, is one of the reasons I feel so close to her today. Or like the time Walt tore his pants, but that didn’t much matter because Mom wasn’t home to reprimand him. Like the feeling I had when the teacher told me, “Take this slip home and have your mother sign ” But Mom wasn’t home. We didn’t talk about it much, Walt and I, but it was there. Not seeing Mom each day was hard on Walt and me-there was an emptiness, a kind of aloneness. She was working on a steamship line as a physiotherapist and was away a great deal. Walt and I didn’t usually wear ties, but today was important. They were brown corduroy and every time I crossed the room to watch out the window for Mom, they swished and made a funny sound. I remember I had on my best pair of pants. But this day both Walt and I were up and dressed early. It was one of those cold San Francisco autumn mornings the kind of morning you hate to get out of bed. I don’t think I’ll ever forget one autumn morning that my brother Walt and I waited for mother to come home from a trip. It’s funny how you can remember little things from ’way back when you were just a kid.
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