Thursday, May 06, 2010

What Would Gigi Do?


Gigi was our family nickname for my mother when my grandsons were younger. It's short for great-grandma. She died when the boys were still quite young, but her influence is still with us.

Sunday is Mothers Day so she is in my thoughts a bit more than usual, but not in an overly sentimental way. She was pragmatic about most things and extremely practical, both by nature and because she had to be.

When I have to make a decision about whether to do the boring practical thing, or the want-to-have-fun thing, her voice pops into my head. Sometimes I wish it wouldn't because her advice is usually - do what you should do, and not what you wish you could do. That's why I have a new heating and air conditioning system and why I won't be visiting Montreal this year. But, that's okay because my apartment will be cool on even the hottest days and the system will pay for itself, over the next umpty-umpteen years.

Thanks for the advice, mom.

I'm buying myself a lottery ticket for Mothers' Day. What are you planning?




5 comments:

Unknown said...

I miss my grandmothers. Sadly I was young when they died, so I didn't really grasp their wisdom at the time. The one thing I remember about my mom's mom (who lived with us while she battled cancer) was finding joy in the little things. She felt like crud most of the time, but she'd spend hours sitting around playing cards or dice with me. I was five when she died, but I still remember that.

Love you, Grandma :)


No big plans. Dinner sometime. Iron Man 2 if we can. We're pretty low-key about stuff like this here.

Angela Addams said...

Girls day out! My mom and daughter...shopping and lunch...I'm looking forward to it...although my daughter seems to think that it's yet another day to buy her a toy...she doesn't quite get the Mother's Day element yet...but it'll be nice to spend some time together.

Lily Whalen said...

I don't have big expectations or big demands. If I can have a day where I can do as little as possible, I'm happy. Anything more is a nice bonus.

Usually, I'd spend some time with my mom, but she's coming to visit later in the week, so we'll do some things together then. It doesn't have to be exactly on Mother's Day. I've sent her a card, though, and will give her a call.

Danielle La Paglia said...

Thank you for sharing Diane. My daughter and I are taking my mom to the beach tomorrow - our annual tradition.

Happy Mother's Day!

michelle said...

Mom died in 2001. I spent the day thinking of her and how much she's missed. I thought of all the things she did and all she sacrificed that earn every day a Mother's Day in my heart. Thanks, Mom.