Post Date: 5/16/09 12:36 pm I'm sitting here with hair dye on my head and thought, what beter way to spend 20 minutes than writing to my favorite online folks.
So my mother has her broken arm and is sleeping in her recliner because it's too painful to lay in bed. The recliner breaks so on Mother's Day, off we go to the Lazy Boy store. She's always wanted a bonified Lazy Boy. She picks out the chair she wants, we schedule delivery and off we go to the grocery store. My mother loves me. She tells me how grateful she is that I'm her daughter. I tell her the same. She hands me her grocery list...
Cat Food
Entemen's Chocolate Donought Holes
Cat Litter
Cat Treats
Sweets
Chocolate Granola Bars
Toilet Paper
I look at the list. I look at my morbidly obese, diabetic mother. I look at the list again. I remember that it's Mother's Day. I decide not to make a fuss about of all the sugar on the list, but just to ask about adding protein.
"Mom, you're diabetic, don't you think we should add at least a little bit of protein to the list?"
What do you mean?"
"You know, cheese, eggs, meat, tuna."
She pouts. MY MOTHER POUTS!!! and then she says, "I don't want to." OK, fine.
We walk through the produce section and I pause in front of some tomatoes. She loves tomatoes. I look at Mom, catch her eye and look back at the tomatoes. I don't say a word. She snaps back, "I don't want any." Then she says, "OK, OK! I'll get some fruit." and she picks up a banana. She shuffles along, looking down and as we pass the packaged meat she says, fine, I'll get some meat. Pick out some bacon." BACON!?!? I don't say a word, I just pick up the leanest package of pork bacon I can find and put it in the cart. She says, "Good, I thought you were going to get that turkey crap."
The ceral aisle was a nightmare. I just decided to let it go. She picked out some fruity, sugary kids cereal and granola bars that were covered in chocolate.
Now the pet food aisle was another story, only the best and most nutricious food for the cats. I can't help myself. "Mom, why do you buy the healthiest food you can get for the cats, but you don't do the same for yourself?"
And here it is. In a nutshell, from my 73 year old mother who has the decision making abilities of a 5 year old lately. "I love my cats."
Is that it? Is it that simple? I don't think that's the whole answer, but I do think that's a big, big part of it. I have to remember to love myself enough to do what's best for me. I can only pray that my mother will do the same.
On the way home, she declares that she's going to have her food delivered from now on.