Untitled

And what a face it wasFrom the time she came back...

10:42 PM, Thursday, May 6, 2010 .. Link

And what a face it wasFrom the time she came back home from New Orleans, when I could get up early enough I loved sitting on the floor of the bathroom and watching her put makeup on that beautiful face It took quite a while, partly because she had no eyebrowsShe often joked that she wished she had big bushy ones that needed plucking, like those of Akim Tamiroff, a famous character actor of that timeInstead, she drew her eyebrows on with a cosmetic pencilThen she put on her makeup and her lipstick, usually a bright red shade that matched her nail polish Until I was eleven or twelve, she had long dark wavy hairIt was really thick and beautiful, and I liked watching her brush it until it was just soIll never forget the day she came home from the beauty shop with short hair, all her beautiful waves goneIt was not long after my first dog, Susie, had to be put to sleep at age nine, and it hurt almost as badlyMother said short hair was more in style and more appropriate for a woman in her mid-thirtiesI didnt buy it, and I never stopped missing her long hair, though I did like it when, a few months later, she stopped dyeing the women louis vuitton handbag gray streak that had run through the middle of her hair since she was in her twenties By the time she finished her makeup, Mother had already run through a cigarette or two and a couple of cups of coffeeWalters got there, shed head off to work, sometimes dropping me at school when our starting times were close enoughWhen I got home from school, Id keep busy playing with my friends or with RogerI loved having a little brother, and all my pals liked having him around, until he got big enough to prefer his own friends Mother usually got home by four or five, except when the racetrack was openShe loved those racesThough she rarely bet more than two dollars across the board, she took it seriously, studying the racing form and the tout sheets, listening to the jockeys, trainers, and owners she got to know, debating her options with her racetrack friendsShe made some of the best friends of her life there: Louise Crain and her husband, Joe, a policeman who later became chief and who used to drive Daddy around in his patrol car when he was drunk until his anger died down; Dixie Seba and her husband, Mike, a trainer; and Marge Mitchell, louis vuitton beverly bag a nurse who staffed the clinic at the track for people who had health problems while there and who, along with Dixie Seba, and later Nancy Crawford, Gabes second wife, probably came as close as anyone ever did to being Mothers real confidanteMarge and Mother called each other Sister Shortly after I came home from law school I had the chance to repay Marge for all shed done for Mother and for meWhen she was dismissed from her job at our local community mental-health center, she decided to challenge the decision and asked me to represent her at the hearing, where even my inexperienced questioning made it obvious that the termination was based on nothing but a personal conflict with her supervisorI tore the case against her to shreds, and when we won I was thrilledShe deserved to get her job back Before I got Mother into politics, most of her friends were involved in her workdoctors, nurses, hospital personnelShe had a lot of themShe never met a stranger, worked hard to put her patients at ease before surgery, and genuinely enjoyed the company of her co-workersOf course, not everybody liked herShe could be abrasive with people imitation louis vuitton handbags she thought were trying to push her around or take advantage of their positions to treat others unfairlyUnlike me, she actually enjoyed making some of these people madI tended to make enemies effortlessly, just by being me, or, after I got into politics, because of the positions I took and the changes I tried to makeWhen Mother really didnt like people, she worked hard to get them foaming at the mouthLater in her career, it cost her, after she had fought for years to avoid going to work for an MD anesthesiologist and had some problems with a couple of her operationsBut most people did like her, because she liked them, treated them with respect, and obviously loved life I never knew how she kept her energy and spirit, always filling her days with work and fun, always being there for my brother, Roger, and me, never missing our school events, finding time for our friends, too, and keeping all her troubles to herself I loved going to the hospital to visit her, meeting the nurses and doctors, watching them care for peopleI got to watch an actual operation once, when I was in junior high, but all I remember about it is that there rock of love tiffany's necklace was a lot of cutting and a lot of blood and I didnt get sickI was fascinated by the work surgeons do and thought I might like to do it myself one day Mother took a lot of interest in her patients, whether they could pay or notIn the days before Medicare and Medicaid there were a lot who couldntI remember one poor, proud man coming to our door one day to settle his accountHe was a fruit picker who paid Mother with six bushels of fresh peachesWe ate those peaches for a long timeon cereal, in pies, in homemade ice creamIt made me wish more of her patients were cash poor! I think Mother found enormous relief from the strains of her marriage in her work and friends, and at the racesThere must have been many days when she was crying inside, maybe even in physical pain, but most people didnt have a clueThe example she set stood me in good stead when I became PresidentShe almost never discussed her troubles with meI think she figured I knew about all I needed to know, was smart enough to figure out the rest, and deserved as normal a childhood as possible under the circumstances When I was fifteen, events overtook the silent gucci watch uk strat

{ Last Page } { Page 1 of 150 } { Next Page }

Untitled

And what a face it wasFrom the time she came back...

About Me

Links

Categories

Recent Entries

Friends