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Dammit. Writing about my mother again. That’s her-Corona- in the middle. I’ve always thought we looked entirely unalike but can see a resemblance in this photo taken back in the days of ashtrays and doilies. Our memory plays tricks but there are clues. The place is Winnipeg on the occasion of my sister Donna’s baptism. I remember these lovely Anishinabe women, wish I could recall their names. As the poem states, my gregarious mother had few friends as we never stayed in one place for more than a few years. We appear well-cared for. She loved to do our hair and dress us up. This was early in her marriage. My mother could be tender, but mostly, tough. She had to be.<\/p>\n
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THE FIRST TIME MY MOTHER CRIED<\/strong><\/p>\n In front of me. That I recall. She cried and Sharon was instantly a sister sort. apron clad, perpetual tea towel sadness aroused tenderness. I looked down. Sharon died in a car crash. on three occasions. new shoes or a hike in the woods, Toward the end my mother cried Dammit. Writing about my mother again. That’s her-Corona- in the middle. I’ve always thought we looked entirely unalike but can see a resemblance in this photo taken back in the days of ashtrays and doilies. Our memory plays tricks but there are clues. The place is Winnipeg on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7644"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7644"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7657,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7644\/revisions\/7657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nfor her best hen-party gal pal Sharon.
\nThe pair often cackled together.
\nMom had few friends, we moved so often<\/p>\n
\nMy sweet, six year old bum
\nwas on the middle swing
\nwhen Mom emerged from the house,<\/p>\n
\nresting on her shoulder,
\nwhich came in handy as you will see.
\nSadness brought out the nurse in her,<\/p>\n
\nMemory evaluations can be dodgy,
\nso many lost but his one remains.
\nWeeping, she handed over half an apple.<\/p>\n
\nA tear plashed onto the snowy flesh.
\nMine. Mom, why are you crying?
\nAt last, she told me.<\/p>\n
\nIs there a more banal fate
\nthan dying in a car crash?
\nI\u2019ve nearly died in a car crash<\/p>\n
\nWhat kind of fool am I?
\nA practically-raised-in-a-car fool.
\nCar rides equalled happiness;<\/p>\n
\nlaughing all the way.
\nShe dried my cheeks
\nwith the perpetual tea towel.<\/p>\n
\nmore than cackled
\nand there was never a tea towel handy.
\nNot so perpetual after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"