"People watching" is a great pastime and the airport is the perfect place for this. The young girl in her jeans and sweatshirt with earphones in her ears, eyes glued to smart phone, texting a mile a minute and conveniently avoiding eye contact with anyone is speculatively a student traveling home to visit her family or going back to school after a visit at home.
The neatly dressed, perfectly groomed man with a black carry-on suitcase and a laptop bag is probably on his way to a business meeting. His nonchalance and lack of interest tell me he has done this countless times before.
The young couple frantically checking diaper bags, strollers, and pulling fruit snacks and juice boxes out of backpacks are all smiles in between the constant, seemingly stressful activity as they look after their young ones....probably on their way to Disney World or to see Grandma and Grandpa in some state far away, sure to delight them as they greet the little ones with big squeezes and tears of joy.
So many people are at the airport, each with a completely different story to tell and reason for their travel. Yes, "people watching" can entertain and intrigue for the long time between arriving at the airport and actually boarding the plane.
I am sure as I sit here in this airport today no one could guess what my reason for travel is. I am sitting here having a bit of an out of body experience myself. I cannot believe I am on my way to Shelby to help Mom get ready to move to Florida. It is amazing what changes can occur in a person 's life. My whole world changed on June 23, 2011. I know Mom's did too. We will never be the same. As the saying goes: Everything changes and nothing stays the same. All I can say to this is Amen!
Mom's decision to move to Florida was such a bold and brave decision. It is just another reason why I admire and look up to her so much. Not only is mom brave, she is unselfish. I know that one of her ultimate reasons for this decision was ME. She did not want to burden me with constant trips to Shelby which resulted in long absences from my husband, my activities, and my responsibilities at home. I know Mom felt that she would be helping me out in the long run by being so close by.
Whatever prompted her decision is irrelevant at this point. What is important is that she will be within arm's reach and I plan to not only be there for her when she needs me, but I intend to fill our days with activities and togetherness. I want to enjoy my time with her and add to my inventory of wonderful memories!
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I began writing this at the airport on February 24th as I sat at the St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. As I finish writing this tonight I am filled with so many thoughts. Mom is here. Her place is lovely. She is settled in. Her complaints are few and far between. She is cooperative and pleasant, yet I know her heart aches for Shelby. How could it not? I hope I can be all things to her so that she is happy and relieved that she made this momentous decision. I know that time will prove to us both that this was and is a wonderful thing!
I started this blog (at my friend Sally's prompting) several months ago talking about mom's home, her things and how weird it might be one day to dismantle her home. It is very hard to believe that the dismantling has already taken place. This happened much sooner than I ever would have expected. It was hard work and lots of decisions had to be made, but I believe that Mom has to be smiling about the pleasure many people will have as they enjoy her things. Not only is her new home lovely, but now my home has made some changes.....I have replaced some things of mine with some things of Mom's......and my things will be passed down to my children. It's like the circle of life of possessions! And possessions are not where the importance lies. The importance is what these possessions represent. As I see the Mom's coffee table sitting proudly in my den, I just sigh and remember how it looked in Mom's home and I remember when she and Daddy bought it in the Bahamas when I was 16. I was so enamored with it that my parents promised me then that one day it would be mine. Seeing the piano in my living room has my life flashing in front of my eyes. I remember sitting at that very piano 50 years ago! There is a lot of history in these pieces.
My blog can continue talking about the things in Mom's house and the memories they invoke. It's just that the actual location of these things has changed. Porter has Mom's Swarovski crystal proudly displayed in his home. Madeline has a bedroom set stored in my garage for the time being. She has often said she wants to re-create that bedroom in her own home one day. And she'll be able to do that.....all the pictures and accessories, bed linens, etc. came to Clearwater from that bedroom. Joseph has now proudly displayed the painting of the girl and the llama that Nancy Carter painted in 1963 after returning from Peru. Joseph always admired that painting at Grandma's house....now it is hanging in his house. The bronze frog-eating snake that Jimmy wanted is sitting right on top of his dresser!
I hope this generation of recipients will cherish and honor the importance of family heirlooms and what they represent. The past few weeks have been bittersweet for me. I have been through every single thing in Mom's home. I literally left no stone unturned. I handled each piece of paper and every picture. My whole life was re-lived in these few weeks (no wonder I am so tired!). I sorted things into groups for each of the 4 grandchildren. Porter has all the photos of his mom when she was a cute pony-tailed, buck-toothed girl. Joseph, Jimmy and Madeline have a Ziploc bag of photos, old cards and letters they wrote to their grandparents awaiting them. There will be plenty more stories to tell from all these things...perhaps now with different twists and perspectives.
Yes, everything changes and nothing stays the same. And memories are made of this.
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| Looks like home to me! (Mom's living room at Stratford Court) |
