Musings on my Mama

I've been rather uninterested in blogging lately. Honestly a part of that is because I don't think any one really reads this. But then I got a counter, and it turns out that 60 people have viewed (not necessarily read, but viewed) my blog. Whoo-hoo. SO, now I shall blog for you all.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the wonder that is my Mother. Mom's coming to visit for Easter next weekend. She's driving from B-lo to Chi-town by herself, so she says that she'll only come if it's not too icy. Luckily good weather seems to be digging in it's heels (knock on wood, fingers crossed). The thought of potenially bad weather makes me nervous with her driving, because really 9 hours is a lot fo one person.

I've always been a little bit of a sissy when it comes to long term driving. When Rob and I used to drive to NOLA with Kramer, we would take turns. He would drive for 5 hours, I would drive for 3. Then he'd have to take over again because I was too tired. Now, he does all the driving, because he says he likes it better.

My Mom doesn't seem to have this problem. However, I do remember a time! In 1987, the summer after my Dad died, my Mom took Jim and I to DC. This trip is not long, I think like 8 hours (I don't think I've ever driven it since then). Well that trip, we got as far as the NY-PA border, before my Mom checked us into a hotel for the night. That would be about a 2-3 hour drive. Thinking about that trip, I realize how amazing it was that my Mom, newly a single parent, decided it was important enough for her to do something she had never done before to make sure that we kept up the family vacation tradition.

As Spring nears, which translates for me as the high travel season, I spend more time each day on phone calls (seemingly interminal) with clients, offering guidance, advice and travel tips. How far is Rome from Venice? What things should I see in Florence? Is it easy driving? Fun discussions, right? (My job rocks, most of the time.) I keep going over in my head the other great adventure we took as a family. In 1990, my Mom took Jim and I to Europe for 6 WEEKS. She drove that entire continent on her own, with two pre-teenage children. In countries where she did not speak the language, and though we had reservations in major cities, most places we just played it by ear.

I didn't really have any sort of point to all of this, short of saying that I'm still awestruck by my Mom. And she doesn't read blogs, so she doesn't even know it. Don't worry, I'll tell her:)