day.....memories.....111

I spent some time with my mother today

     That seems an odd thing to say, since she died in 2001.
     My goal was to go through a box of pictures from the basement, saving ones we wanted and tossing others.
     The box I picked was my mother's.
     In it were all of the sympathy cards received, a copy of the people attending the visitation, death associated paperwork and several photo albums.
     I must not have been paying attention to her life.
     She took a trip to Philadelphia and Washington DC, sometime in 82.  She went to Florida where she saw Shamu!  And yes, she used the exclamation mark.
     In 83 she went west, seeing the San Diego Zoo, Nairobi Village Wild Animal Park where she was impressed the by elephant show.  At least, from the number of pictures she took, it made quite and impression.  She went to the Queen Mary, LA and Hollywood and took a Homes of the Stars tour.
     She visited my dad's sister Fritz and her husband Jack in Laguna Village.
     In 1984 she went to Canada, Lake Placid, Boston.  She went to Shelbourne Village in Vermont, a place Jackie and I  have been.  She went to Plymouth Rock and Boston Harbor.
     She also went ot Mildred and Ernest's anniversary party in Baraboo......and I have no idea who they were.
     But mom had fun, dancing the polka with a man in lederhosen.
     And family pictures.....birthdays, Christmases, dinners.
     It was nice seeing the "old ones" again...Kay and Jim, Dort and Floyd, Bea and Henry, Loretta.  There were even pictures of relative I had long forgotten, like Harry and Ruth.
     Strangely, there were family members on her side not in any of the pictures.  Were they dead by then?  Or too far away?
     All I know is, every description of a trip included the words "great" and "amazing."
     I pulled some pictures to pass on to family.  But most of them were tossed.  No need to keep pictures of Shamu, Plymouth Rock, or elephants.....no matter how great they were.
     I think there are 9 boxes to go.
     This isn't going to be easy.
     Stay safe.  Stay masked.  Stay healthy.
Peace and Love

Ps....guess who turns 80 tomorrow?