Thursday, May 10, 2007
Mom-orabilia
*My mom could never keep the pianist Roger Williams straight from the country singer/songwriter Roger Miller. Often she would say "I just love it when Roger Miller plays Autumn Leaves." Then, when You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd would come on the radio, she'd remark how funny "that Roger Williams" was.
*My mom once said she enjoyed hearing a "Vietnamese Waltz" every now and then. We are pretty sure she meant Viennese Waltz, but, who knows.
*My mom sometimes says things out loud that are really just part of an internal conversation she is having with herself. Once, while my brothers and I were sitting at the kitchen table and she was getting something off the stove, she chuckled and said "Oh, those cows had no idea what they were doing." All of us looked at each other, figured it was just mom being mom and went back to eating.
*My mom visited me in Las Vegas to celebrate my 19th birthday. Frankly, she had not been too crazy about her 18 year old baby moving there in the first place. Anyway, she and the Bionic Avon Lady (BAL, for short) flew out from Wisconsin for a few days in the desert. Now, BAL naturally wanted to see the sights and paint the town, if not red, at least a light pink. But, for my mom, it didn't matter that this was glitzy, glamorous Vegas. She had come there to make chocolate chip cookies and a birthday cake and that's what she did. Now, we did see some shows, including Liberace, but, for the most part, my mom was there to be a mom. By the way, the Bionic Avon Lady had a great time, too. She disappeared for a couple days...turned out she was in the chorus line for the Wayne Newton show and had sold a ton of Avon's Care Deeply lotion, on the side.
*My mom and I once travelled to Reedsburg, Wisconsin to see Frank Sinatra....Junior. For some reason, Junior and his band were appearing in a tiny little room on a postage-stamp sized stage. We had a table right at the front and, I'm not sure, but I think Junior was flirting with my mom most of the night. She is the kind of person a performer wants in the front row because she smiles, claps to the beat, sings a long and just generally has a great time. When my brothers had a band back in the late 60s, every summer, they would play at a camp for kids with special needs and challenges. I think it was called Camp Waubeek. Well, as great as they played, it was the chance to dance with my mom that made the most smiles. She'd stay on the dance floor as long the young folks wanted to spin around.
*My mom, speaking of dancing, used to request "Music to Iron By" when I would be practicing my piano lessons. Well, when I should have been practicing my piano lessons. There were really only two things she insisted my brothers and I do as far as childhood activities were concerned: swimming lessons and piano lessons. Apparently, she was preparing us for life as musicians on a cruise ship of doubtful seaworthiness. Actually, swimming lessons are a smart idea for anybody but she was particularly diligent on this because of her one and only water skiing experience. The moral of that story was "If you are water skiing and fall, LET GO OF THE ROPE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" As for the piano side of things, her own father had been a talented musician and she had spent part of her little girl-hood dancing while he played. To this day, she can pick out more melodies on a guitar or piano than you'd find in a pile of Reader's Digest Songbooks. Anyway, she wanted all of us to have a little grounding in music and piano seemed the best way to accomplish that. So, when I would play something like Scott Joplin's The Entertainer, she'd start ironing or dusting or vacuuming in rhythm. Who needed Jazzercise when you had Mommercise! Obviously, she was ahead of her time.
*My mom has walked right through sliding screen doors without missing a beat.
*My mom has been the source of many more stories, long and short, but I'd better save some for her birthday and beyond. Oh, I should mention that she is as wonderful a grandma as she is a mother. Almost too good...I'm pretty sure she and my children are in cahoots against me at all times.
*My mom is the best there is and my brothers and I are pretty lucky people. In the words of Roger Williams, she makes us all feel like the King of the Road. Or, is that Roger Miller?
*My mom once said she enjoyed hearing a "Vietnamese Waltz" every now and then. We are pretty sure she meant Viennese Waltz, but, who knows.
*My mom sometimes says things out loud that are really just part of an internal conversation she is having with herself. Once, while my brothers and I were sitting at the kitchen table and she was getting something off the stove, she chuckled and said "Oh, those cows had no idea what they were doing." All of us looked at each other, figured it was just mom being mom and went back to eating.
*My mom visited me in Las Vegas to celebrate my 19th birthday. Frankly, she had not been too crazy about her 18 year old baby moving there in the first place. Anyway, she and the Bionic Avon Lady (BAL, for short) flew out from Wisconsin for a few days in the desert. Now, BAL naturally wanted to see the sights and paint the town, if not red, at least a light pink. But, for my mom, it didn't matter that this was glitzy, glamorous Vegas. She had come there to make chocolate chip cookies and a birthday cake and that's what she did. Now, we did see some shows, including Liberace, but, for the most part, my mom was there to be a mom. By the way, the Bionic Avon Lady had a great time, too. She disappeared for a couple days...turned out she was in the chorus line for the Wayne Newton show and had sold a ton of Avon's Care Deeply lotion, on the side.
*My mom and I once travelled to Reedsburg, Wisconsin to see Frank Sinatra....Junior. For some reason, Junior and his band were appearing in a tiny little room on a postage-stamp sized stage. We had a table right at the front and, I'm not sure, but I think Junior was flirting with my mom most of the night. She is the kind of person a performer wants in the front row because she smiles, claps to the beat, sings a long and just generally has a great time. When my brothers had a band back in the late 60s, every summer, they would play at a camp for kids with special needs and challenges. I think it was called Camp Waubeek. Well, as great as they played, it was the chance to dance with my mom that made the most smiles. She'd stay on the dance floor as long the young folks wanted to spin around.
*My mom, speaking of dancing, used to request "Music to Iron By" when I would be practicing my piano lessons. Well, when I should have been practicing my piano lessons. There were really only two things she insisted my brothers and I do as far as childhood activities were concerned: swimming lessons and piano lessons. Apparently, she was preparing us for life as musicians on a cruise ship of doubtful seaworthiness. Actually, swimming lessons are a smart idea for anybody but she was particularly diligent on this because of her one and only water skiing experience. The moral of that story was "If you are water skiing and fall, LET GO OF THE ROPE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" As for the piano side of things, her own father had been a talented musician and she had spent part of her little girl-hood dancing while he played. To this day, she can pick out more melodies on a guitar or piano than you'd find in a pile of Reader's Digest Songbooks. Anyway, she wanted all of us to have a little grounding in music and piano seemed the best way to accomplish that. So, when I would play something like Scott Joplin's The Entertainer, she'd start ironing or dusting or vacuuming in rhythm. Who needed Jazzercise when you had Mommercise! Obviously, she was ahead of her time.
*My mom has walked right through sliding screen doors without missing a beat.
*My mom has been the source of many more stories, long and short, but I'd better save some for her birthday and beyond. Oh, I should mention that she is as wonderful a grandma as she is a mother. Almost too good...I'm pretty sure she and my children are in cahoots against me at all times.
*My mom is the best there is and my brothers and I are pretty lucky people. In the words of Roger Williams, she makes us all feel like the King of the Road. Or, is that Roger Miller?
Posted at 4:18 AM
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