For My Mom’s Birthday She Gave Me A Gift

Mom gave me a gift on her birthday on Sunday.  Yes, my life, several years ago, but this was an extra special gift of a different kind from her on her birthday. She wrote a book! This is the second book she has written, but I have to say I am very proud of her!  She turned 70 on Sunday.  I took a cake over to her house and sang her happy birthday.  She presented me with the second book that she has written called 'In The Mind Of 69' in which she puts a somewhat humorous spin on her 69th year of life.

My mom has always been a 'giver.'  It is always about what she can give others rather than what she will receive.  I called her early Sunday morning to wish her a happy birthday and ask her if I could buy her lunch or something to make her day a little more enjoyable.  She wouldn't let me.  So, I brought over an ice cream cake so she would at least have a birthday cake.  We ate the delicious cake, sang happy birthday and she presented me with this labor of her love, her 2nd book.  I am so proud of my mom!

My mom is now 70 years old. She did not grow up with computers or the technology we have today. She has a smart phone.  She has a computer. She uses the technology that is available to her with amazing and awe inspiring skill. She is a caregiver, in her home, and she really works 24/7 without a break except for once in a great while.  She has written a book before, called, 'A Caregivers Journey.' She told me, well, what else do I have to do here in my box?  I can write.  She painstakingly learned how to use her laptop all by herself and it amazes me so. The running joke used to be, 'Mom can't even figure out the VCR.' What exactly are VCR's?  Does anybody even know anymore? HA!  Day after day, page after page she worked away on this.  It is her story, this one, somewhat reality, somewhat fantasy, somewhat the details of her life.  I am in this book. Her family is in this book.  Her thoughts, her words, her wishes, and just some random poetry.

I finished reading the book late Sunday night. She quotes various song lyrics and how they work into her life, various day to day happenings and some of the events we have done together.  For her birthday, she gave me her story and this book, and I am really proud that my mom did this.  It's very good.  She's a pretty young whipper snapper at heart.  She talks of songs that I would bet most ladies age 69 wouldn't talk about, but then again, she is my mom. By default, I suppose, she gets to hear some of the 'cool music.'

The most amazing part of it, was to discover how much her family means to her, meaning myself, my sister, my daughter.  It's evident that we are very much 'In The Mind Of 69.'  I know that there are many people who write books.  My mom sat at her computer, day after day after day, typing, thinking, editing, writing, and it blows me away.  I sat there with my measly little cake and happy birthday song thinking, this really is how my mom is.  She is a giver, not a taker, and I am very proud to call her my mom, and very grateful for this amazing gift she handed me on her birthday. It's even interesting, funny and creative.