Miss Me?

I'm back, and this was one of the best holidays I've ever had. Was it the tons of unhealthy food I shoved down my pie-hole with gluttonous greed? No. Was it the copious amounts of alcohol that followed the food? No. It wasn't even the hours and hours of sleep I finally got due to both previously mentioned holidays habits. It was the fact that I lost a good amount of my past.

"Huh?" you're saying. Relax, I will 'splain.

My mother and father came into town this year for Christmas. It was nice. After the big to-do, my mom and I spent a day shopping. As you know, shopping at that level brings on a mighty appetite, so mom and I went to a place called Growler's and had a sandwich.

Somehow we got on the topic of my high school and I was not shy in the least about expressing how badly said high school sucked salty, chocolate balls. She told me that she had always had that small town, Mayberry fantasy and that's why we ended up in the fly-shit town we did. I told her one of the things that has bothered me for years - she picked that shitty-ass town because the shitty-ass school was perfect for my sister. Screw me, no, we had to do what was best for her. A small argument ensued, but it ended with my mother apologizing and saying that she "made a mistake."

Eh?

Those words have never passed my mother's lips. Admitting she made a mistake is akin to the sun bursting and killing all of us planets in a heartbeat - it could happen, but the chances are slim. A twenty pound weight that I didn't even know I was holding fell off my shoulders and I saw my mom in a new light. She was just a girl trying to do her best.

Then, THEN, my mom goes and visits her mother, Mamaw. Mamaw has alzheimers and it is getting bad. In talking about the heinous, evil, argumentative, nasty attitude my Mamaw has, my mother said this:

"If I ever get like that, you girls have my permission to put us all out of our misery."

Me - "You were like that."

Mom - "WHAT?!"

Me - "When you went through menopause, you were just like that. I'm not saying we didn't have good times, but you were impossible to please and it sucked big time."

Mom - "Oh, you poor babies."

Finally, FINALLY, my mother is beginning to understand what living with her was like when she went through menopause. I think she'll begin to understand now why our relationship took such a nose dive all those years ago. That, and why it took so long to get back on track. It wasn't all me! I wasn't acting so much as reacting. It's an amazing step in our relationship now and I feel closer to her than I ever have. This is a major breakthrough, just ask anyone who knows me.

So I'm starting off the New Year with a good high. Coming back to work has dampened it a bit, but over all I am happy as a puppy with two peters. I hope y'all had a good time. Ta.