Last week as I sat in the hospital room admiring my little baby girl Marki, there was a moment that I said to myself..."OK right now, if I had 150k dollars I would give it all to spend tonight with my mother and just talk. I know she would be ticked at me losing that money for a few hours, but I would do it... I really wanted to talk to her, I wanted to discuss everything, baby, finances, relationships, laugh, inform, and most of all be informed.
I went over to my sister Teya's house on Friday night because Jada wanted to play with her cousin Troy. We were discussing how much we missed our mom, when Teya showed me perhaps one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. A 203 page hand written journal she had kept during the dates of 1973-1981. She was 17 years old on page one and had just met my father. That night Andrea was very tired and I was fortunate enough to spend the night watching Marki as her Mommy got some much needed rest. Marki was fussy from hour 1! So I put her on my chest and she fell into a deep sleep. I became extremely relaxed, and used a book light to read. I read for 5 hours. As I laid there with this baby on my chest sleeping soundly, I listened to my mother tell her story. It was a personal journal, so there was no holding back, it was the sort of stuff you would not want people reading about unless you were in fact dead. Yet I experienced the joy of reading perhaps one of the most compelling love stories I have ever heard of. All the drama a 17 year old girl who was just starting college, and had met "the one". I read in suspense as the roller coaster that is common in most courtships unfolded before my eyes. The fog of stories past that she had told us about her one true love lifted, I read of her progressing through college, having a son with a birth defect, marriage, current events, her thoughts on her religion, her feelings about her children, and future generations that would be related to her. Then the trials of having yet another child with the exact same birth defect, substance abuse, her disdain for anything negative that could happen to her family from such substance abuse, reconciliation,forgiveness, and above all true Love. I mean the stuff you think only exists in movies and novels True love for her spouse, and for those who raised her... Above all it was not perfect, or rather she was not perfect. Thats sometimes hard to remember when someones passes away, that they were in fact flawed...just like we are...she doubted, trusted, loved, lived, never hated...NEVER HATED...wow! And completely opened herself up.
This morning I woke up and Jada and I went to some friends house to fix their Air conditioner... While I was driving and chatting with Jada Rose I had this complete sensation, like I got everything I needed. That feeling after a perfect Christmas morning (I'm trying sooo hard not to make PAC10 references here) I'm not wealthy, in fact weve spent all we have to finish our basement... perfect Marriage and pursuit of happiness to that point was in the horizon somewhere. But not anymore, I was content, I had my 150K dollar jackpot, and didn't spend a penny! I literally spoke and listened to my mother all night as my precious little girl slept on my chest. It was the most complete record I have ever read, most questions I ever had about my father, or her feelings on work, religion, friends, babies, and finances were answered. So this evening I took Jada back over to Teya's house to let her play with Troy again, and laughed, pondered, and genuinely loved talking about this amazing gift.
I know this much from my conversation with my Mother last night. I'm fairly certain I love my wife as my father loved my mother, my children are just as precious as I and my sisters were to my mother, and money escapes us as it did her. Friends are high priority, and many times the line between friends and family is not distinct, which is how it should be. FAMILY is happiness. Life does not have a pattern or an agenda, its chaos in a universe that demands adherence to its laws. So the lesson here is if you have a story to tell, even if you don't have children, or already have children and even grand children, write it down, type it, or speak it into a video camera...YOU JUST MAY SAVE SOMEONE 150 thousand dollars one day, you just might give someone one of the greatest gifts they have ever recieved, all the while achieving immortality in a mortal life.
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