Mom's TV Shows

When thinking about mom, one rarely thinks about the television shows she liked. This is, in part, because she was not terribly "in to" television. She did have some exceptions, however, and it is quite likely that you will be surprised at one or two of them:

- M.A.S.H.
- The Love Boat
- Mystery Movie (Especially Columbo and McMillan and Wife)
- Dallas
- Simon and Simon
- House

I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind now. What set me off on this train of thought is hulu.com, which airs episodes of select TV shows for free and, more importantly, legally. I am now watching the pilot episode of Simon and Simon on Hulu.

Her Laugh

I've been dreaming about mom a lot lately. I am sorry to say that the dreams are usually unpleasant. They mostly deal with events that never really occurred during her final days. Perhaps this is a natural part of grief, but I don't know.

She keeps occurring to me at the oddest times. A minute ago I could have sworn that I heard her laugh emanating from downstairs. For a second or two the familiar throaty laughter washed over me with a wonderful sense of reassurance. Then it passed, leaving behind a deep melancholy caused by the sudden certainty that I will never hear that laugh again; we have photographs of what she looked like, and we have stories about her, but we will never again hear her laughter, or the sound of her voice on the phone when she said "Hi, honey."

Man, oh, man.

Mom's Birthday 1986

This, if I recall correctly, was a belated birthday party for Mom, days after Sarah was born. Mom's birthday was the 10th of June, and Sarah was born on the 17th, so this is probably at some point during the fourth week of June, 1996.

From left to right: Osman, Aziza, Mom, Sarah, and Me. Janet might recognize the golden picture frame by the fish-bowl-turned-flower-vase on the mantle. This was at our second apartment at 159 26th July St., Zamalek.

Once I get some rest, I'll be posting a lot more pictures, and I'll be back to the daily post. Watch this space.

Green Tomatoes and Wild Pumpkins

When we lived at 302 Oak Avenue ( Scott Simmons' house; the numbers on the street have changed, but the house is still there) in Carrboro, mom always had something going in her garden. I remember that I, a four-year-old tyke at the time, would pick her tomatoes while they were still green, and eat them off the vine.

Around back, she had a compost heap. She explained that the trash would eventually "cook" into food for the plants. I thought that was wonderful. It probably had a lot to do with how she told the story.

Mom was not always successful with her garden. For one thing, her zucchini, cucumbers, and okra were enormous (I was very proud. I wouldn't eat them, but I was proud).

She told me a story later about what I think must have been our two-week trip to Florida (Disney World. Yay!) She had apparently left the pumpkins untended for those two weeks, and they had spread arms everywhere; into the neighbors' yards, into the streets...everywhere. To hear mom tell it, the Giant Pumpkin Monster took over the neighborhood in a sinister takeover.

She was really good at most things she tried her hand at, and those she failed at..well, she told good stories about them, with grand flair and charm.

Jeez. Here come the waterworks. I though I was over this.

Good night.