Good morning!
I woke early this morning…
Perhaps it was waking in a strange bed?
I had, after all, woken at my sisters house in Roscoe, Illinois…
I had driven out the night before to celebrate my dad’s birthday…
We went out for a nice meal. Nice restaurant. Nice ribeye…
Anyway, dinner was delicious. When we got home, I relaxed on the couch, the kind of relaxation one can only have after a big meal…
My sister sat on the opposite couch, working on things unknown to me…
I lay quietly, enjoying her company without needing to speak. And I found myself drifting off to sleep...
So when I woke this morning, I found myself comfortable in my bed. A bed made so lovingly the night before by my sister, and I enjoyed the warmth of the soft covers surrounding me, and my head resting on the perfect pillow…
Yet I found myself wide awake.
Despite the comfortable settings and the silent, dark, yet warm and loving home, I was ready to go…
Ready to start my day. Ready for my first cup of coffee…
So start I did, and here I am, typing away at my computer, savoring those first few sips of coffee…
And life is good…
Listening to soft piano music, the home is silent outside of the tic tock sound that an unseen clock is making in the kitchen…
And I am at peace…
Perhaps it the soft music? Perhaps the early hour? Perhaps the knowledge there is plenty of time to retreat back to my comfortable bed and get some more sleep if the need hits me?
But peace is what I feel. My heart rising up and down with the music…
My eyes lift up from my computer screen…
Across the kitchen, I see something very familiar, yet somewhat distant…
It is my mother’s china cabinet. Filled with Mom’s china…
Limoges China. Honestly, I just Googled the spelling of Limoges to make sure I got it right…
Anyway, my mom was always so proud of that china…
Rarely used, except on special occasions. I remember us eating on it on many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners…
Honestly, I always found the china a bit gawdy. Filled with colorful and floral patterns, I have always preferred the simplicity of a clean white plate. Anyway...
The memories bring a smile to my face as I type…
Mom was always a linguist, and at least partially fluent in several languages…
I can still hear her pronouncing the word with overemphasis, as if to let us know that this china was special. “Limoges.”
Good memories. I miss my Mom. We all do…
She was certainly a unique woman…
Passionate. Tough. Smart. Very competitive…
She ran several marathons in her 40s, and competed and trained with great pride…
She actually finished one marathon in just under four hours, which is quite an achievement for a woman who was in her mid 40s at the time…
3:59:59. She broke four hours by exactly one second…
That was so Mom. Kicking in fiercely after 26 grueling miles. Passing younger men who were exhausted and hobbling in to the finish…
Because to my mom, that one second mattered. Achieving her goal mattered…
I think it did too. I am proud of Mom…
Proud of that one second. Proud of her passion and emotion. Proud of that determination and fighting spirit…
Traits I believe she has passed down to me. Traits that make me who I am…
The proud son of a Scottish immigrant. The proud son of a coal miner’s daughter. The proud son of a sub 4 hour marathon runner…
The proud son of Margaret Young Tracy.
A woman who always believed she could...
Ken
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