Celebrating 76 years

I took my mom out to lunch today to celebrate her 76th birthday. I told her I expect her to live to be 100 years old. I appreciate that she takes such good care of her health. She practices Tai Chi five mornings a week. She teaches on the sixth day. Two nights a week she does a class where she uses swords. She is in great shape for a woman of 76.

My mom is really an amazing woman. I am the youngest of four children. I have three older brothers. She and my dad adopted me when I was six weeks old. My dad ended up leaving my mom (and family) when I was around six or seven. My mom never worked before he left. She became a substitute teacher and had to get help from welfare just so we could all eat. Even though I was so young, I remember how much she struggled. We had a lot of support from friends because she had no living relatives, except an older aunt and uncle out of state. She grew up as an only child and her parents were both gone by the time I was two. I always went to school in someone else's old clothes. My brothers grew so incredibly fast, it was very, very hard to keep them fed and clothed. (They range from 6'1" to 6'6" now) I didn't get my first "brand new" coat until I was in junior high. I grew up on a lot of beans, rice, noodles, and powdered milk. She is very proud of her four children and what we have done with our lives and we are proud of her.

I know I'm lucky to have my mom alive and living close to me. I'm so happy to be able to have our sushi lunches together for our birthdays, and just to catch up. Sometimes I think she talks too much but then I just sit and look at her and think to myself, someday I will miss hearing her voice. So, I let her talk (and talk, and talk). LOL

I hope to be able to report on her 100th birthday celebration when it happens.