Mommy & Me

Mother's Day is almost here, and I've been thinking about my mom. Of all the things she's given me, my love for reading is the most special. It's something we still enjoy together. She loves to read romance books, while I prefer cozy mysteries and stories about the occult. It's funny, but during the pandemic, we got really into the Agatha Raisin books because they had both romance and mystery.

My mom became a mother very young, only sixteen when I was born. That was just four months after she got married, something I found out by looking at the old family bible. Her first marriage didn't last, and eventually, my mom and I moved back in with my grandparents. Later on, she married someone else.

I don't remember a lot from my early childhood with my mom, but two things really stand out. One time, we went to Ghost Town in the Sky, a Wild West amusement park in North Carolina. It must have been late in the day because I was tired, and it was getting dark. I remember sitting on my mom's lap in an outdoor theater watching a dance show. My face was buried in her chest, feeling safe. Then, one of the dancers came off the stage and talked to us. She said I was a cute boy and asked if I wanted to be her boyfriend, and I said, "NO!" really loud

Later, I lived with my grandparents, but my mom would visit almost every day. Sometimes, I even got to spend the night with her on weekends. One night, it was just the two of us at her house. This had to be before my three brothers came along. The TV was playing a Godzilla movie on WGN, and like most little boys, I loved those monster movies. I was so excited to watch it. I'm sure she would have rather been reading one of her romance novels, but she sat there with me, this hyper little kid, and watched the whole Godzilla movie while I asked a thousand questions. 

Those little moments that might not seem like much – like us both enjoying stories even if we liked different kinds, and her just being there with me while I watched a monster movie – those are the things that really show how much my mom loves me. They tell me how she always put me first and was willing to be part of what I liked, even if it wasn't what she would have chosen. Now that Mother's Day is coming, it's those quiet times of love and connection that I remember most. They're proof of the strong and lasting relationship I have with my mom.

Carolina Dean