Mother’s Day: “Here Comes the Sun”

Sunday evening, May 14, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, after I visited my mother and delivered cards sent by my sister in Tennessee and a cousin in Michigan, Linda and I drove up to Chatsworth for the opening reception for Hye Sook Park’s new exhibition of paintings, which I will write about in a day or two; and then went on to her sister’s place in Thousand Oaks, where we celebrated Mother’s Day with her family. During my visit with my mother, I had asked if she would enjoy going to the small outdoor patio on the third floor. She sat quite happily in her wheelchair in the mild spring sun. Although she still recognizes me by name when I arrive, her personal narrative is steadily vanishing. This time she asked me if her mother and father were still alive. “I can’t remember whether they’ve died or not.” At least she can speak that sentence and know what the question means. One answer is all too obvious, but I allowed her to consider what their real age would be if they were alive, and let her work it out from there.

Today, though, as I sipped my first cup of coffee, I looked out the sliding glass door between Sharon’s kitchen and her patio and saw Noreen, the mother of the Cleary clan, sitting in a chair and enjoying the sun as much as my mother did yesterday. I suggested to Sharon that she should take a picture of Noreen accompanied by a metal sculpture of her favorite animal, the rooster. A few minutes after Sharon snapped the picture, Noreen got up from her chair and shifted to another chair, which positioned her sideways to the sun’s outpouring. My thanks to Sharon for graciously hosting us, as she has done for well over the decade and a half I have been part of her extended family, and for sending me this photograph and giving me permission to use it.

Sunworshippers

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