This meme was reposted on archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
From: Bennie Greathouse rayg70@bellsouth.net
Subject: [Fwd: Fw: I love my mommy]
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: *Rolling eyes* I don't do baby-talk.
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 06:46:33 -0500
Message-ID: 000f01bfb5ba$17c51640$0300a8c0@bmg
From: "Marnie Greathouse" mgreath@bellsouth.net
Cc: "John Vodosia" JOHNN61527@aol.com, "Brandy Vodosia" VODOSIA2@aol.com,
"Suzi Vega" SuziVega@orthofix.com,
"Deirdre Swain" SIGMMARHO@aol.com,
"Zack Pledger" zpledger@webtv.net,
"Michelle Pledger" Straitfan70@aol.com,
"B.J. Pledger" MIST_2000@webtv.net,
"Jeff Pledger" JPle928228@aol.com,
"Carla Pledger" carlapledger@webtv.net,
"Pam Pfeffer" pfeffey@aol.com,
"McQuietor-Nays, Sonya Y" McQuietor-Nays.Sonya@Con-Way.com,
"Ray Greathouse" rayg70@bellsouth.net,
"Heather Greathouse" hgreat@gulftel.com,
"Bob & Kathy Erichsrud" bobkat@akitas.com
* * *
đź–¤Meme: For those of us who still have our moms with us,
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Prepare for yet another heart-yank designed to make you feel touched enough to share that meme, or ashamed not to, - again.
NOT!
It's pretty cold of you to dismiss anyone whose parents are no longer living…
đź–¤Meme: let's not forget to say thank you to them and tell them that we love them.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Look, that's all fine and dandy for people like me, who have good relationships with our parents - let's not neglect our dads either. But someone like me gives thanks and shows love in one's own way, on one's own time, and not whenever some cheesy sap gets sent via email or reposted via web forum, blog, or social network…
But there are people who don't have good relationships with their mothers where it is not the fault of these children. You might want to think of that before reposting this presumptuous gunk.
đź–¤Meme: Mother
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Oh cram it. I'm nobody's mother.
đź–¤Meme: When you came into the world, she held you in her arms. You thanked her by wailing like a banshee.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: which is actually a very good thing, because a good wail from a newborn means healthy lungs.
I have no idea if my biological mother held me in her arms. I doubt it, and I hope not, for her sake. I was two months premature, and she was an unwed teenager who had to give me up. That would have to be one of the most painful experiences to face. So I hope she got the chance to have another baby and start again with a family she wouldn't be torn from.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 1 year old, she fed you and bathed you. You thanked her by crying all night long.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: No I didn't. I slept through the night at a year. Babies should generally be sleeping through the night by that age and even a lot younger. My great-niece Paisley slept through the night even before she was two months old.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 2 years old, she taught you to walk. You thanked her by running away when she called.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: I learned to run first, then walk at a year and a half. I never ignored when my name was called, still don't. There are times when it may seem like it but only because I may not always hear it.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 3 years old, she made all your meals with love. You thanked her by tossing your plate on the floor.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Uh, no! I knew better than that by three years old, and she made all us kids' meals with love since the day we were either born to her or in my case, came to live with her - and I was adopted into my family.
I hated getting messy when I was little. It was apparently such a rarity that they actually took a pic of me on my 2nd birthday because I got cake on myself. I was so careful that at 4 I could be trusted to carry my drink around the house without spilling.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 4 years old, she gave you some crayons. You thanked her by coloring the dining room table.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: No I didn't. I was shown what I could colour, and I stuck to that. I knew you weren't supposed to write or draw on the table or the walls, and why. Unlike these chain letter brats, I listened. There were other areas I was a real challenge in, but messing up stuff that wasn't mine wasn't one of them.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 5 years old, she dressed you for the holidays. You thanked her by plopping into the nearest pile of mud
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: nope, that was my nephew, and it was during summer holidays, not a special occasion. So he wasn't dressed up.
I didn't plop myself into the mud. I played baker and pretended to be making cake, stirring it around in a bucket with a play shovel. I did enjoy the feel of sloshing through mud in my shoes when it couldn't be avoided, but I didn't go looking for it.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 6 years old, she walked you to school. You thanked her by screaming; "I'M NOT GOING!"
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: No, she drove me to school the first while, and I wasn't obstinately screaming. I was scared and not wanting her to leave me there. And she tried hard to reassure me - it wasn't easy on her either, not by a long shot.
Eventually the bus brought me to and from school.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 7 years old, she bought you a baseball. You thanked her by throwing it through the next-door-neighbor's window.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Nope, it was one of those rubber utility balls you see in school playgrounds, and I never bugged anyone else by playing with it.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 8 years old, she handed you an ice cream. You thanked her by dripping it all over your lap.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: nope. I might've done that at two or three, but i'd certainly learned by age 8 that ice cream melts so you better eat it quickly when it's in a cone. With a bowl, you can take it more leisurely.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 9 years old, she paid for piano lessons. You thanked her by never even bothering to practice.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Uh, not quite! Oh, we had our wing-dinger fights over trying to get me to practice and do my homework, but I eventually did my practicing and my homework. and I started my piano lessons at six and a half.
And look where it's got me.
Resurrection Hymn - played by 🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:
Everlasting God - arranged by 🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:
And all by ear and requiring hours of listening and practice. and yes, we are both content with the outcome.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 10 years old, she drove you around all day; from soccer to softball and to one birthday party after another. You thanked her by jumping out of the car and never looking back.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong. She did drive me around everywhere - but not to soccer or softball, and I didn't jump out of the car without looking back. Even if a ten-year-old does that, what, reasonably, can you expect from a kid who's excited to do stuff with their friends during time out of the classroom and not around home where they have to put up with parents and siblings telling them what to do?
My Mom drove me to swimming, horseback riding, music,, and to and from friends houses, but I wasn't ungrateful about it.
And when I was 10, my first niece was born. I got to hold her at 17 hours old. It was one of the very best experiences in my life!
đź–¤Meme: When you were 11 years old, she took you and your friends to the movies. You thanked her by asking her to sit in a different row.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: No I didn't. I rarely went to movies with my friends, actually, but was never embarrassed about where Mom was sitting. heck, my friends' parents were sometimes along too. Mostly my friends just went to one another's houses, to the playgroundd or swimming or rollerskating, stuff like that. If the parents were visiting, that was cool, I'd play with my friends while our parents chatted over coffee/tea. Those were good times.
When I was 11, I got my first pet hamster. that was very exciting, and he was very cute and amazingly calm.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 12 years old, she warned you not to watch certain TV shows. You thanked her by waiting until she left the house.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Uh, no. I just didn't do that… I had my favourite TV shows and was n't an easy person to introduce new shows too, especially if they were something I shouldn't be watching at a young age.
đź–¤Meme: Those teenage years...
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Our battles were all over homework and practice, or sometimes just either of us having a short fuze for whatever reason, and misunderstandings, that sort of stuff. I was actually a pretty good teenager.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 13, she suggested a haircut that was becoming. You thanked her by telling her she had no taste.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Nope. I decided to grow my hair longer at age 12 because some kids at school told me I looked like a boy. Besides, I'd had short hair for a while and wanted to try growing it out anyway.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 14, she paid for a month away at summer camp. You thanked her by forgetting to write a single letter.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong again. I was only gone a week. People go on vacations for that length of time without writing letters home - though now if I was to go away, I could actually communicate using my iPad. I couldn't write home from camp anyway because there weren't any tipewriters there, and no internet yet. Besides, the whole idea of camp is to be away from home for a bit. I just told her all about it when I got back.
and when camp season was over, my second niece was born. One of the best experiences in my life! Though when we went to see her, the hospital would only let her older sister and grandparents in, not me because I was only an aunt. My emotions were running so high that I embarrassed myself by bursting into tears. Mom was upset because she knew how much it meant to me. We left and came back when I could visit too.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 15, she came home from work, looking for a hug. You thanked her by having your bedroom door locked.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong. By that time, she drove me and my friend home from school, and we always hugged goodnight before going to bed, or if one of us was going away for a while, or whenever we were excited about something like good grades or acing music exams.
I wasn't in my room after school, because then my shows would come on so that was my TV time. I also got my pet rabbit as a gift from an elementary school for being a guest speaker at one of their classes.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 16, she taught you how to driver her car. You thanked her by taking it every chance you could.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: ROTFLOL Bwahahahahaha! if only you knew me, you'd realize just how REE-DANG-DONCULOUS that idea is!
đź–¤Meme: When you were 17, she was expecting an important call. You thanked her by being on the phone all night.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: No, that was when I was more like 10 or 12.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 18, she cried at your high school graduation. You thanked her by staying out partying until dawn.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: *Splutters* Again, if you knew me at all, you'd know how utterly ABSURD that assumption is! I never was a party girl.
đź–¤Meme: Growing old and gray...
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: I'm greyer than my mom - even when she doesn't have a colour in her hair. But - I also have a lot more hair than she has.
And we are all growing older.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 19, she paid your college tuition, drove you to campus, carried your bags. You thanked her by saying good-bye outside the dorm so you wouldn't be embarrassed in front of your friends.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong. She drove me to my college classes and walked me in and I was not embarrassed. By college age, you're past that. I couldn't find my own way around a big college with my vision impairment.
If I had any bags to carry, I carried them myself just as I'd always done throughout school. Though honestly, I don't remember carrying stuff around since my college classes were music related and I did everything from memory and recorded stuff that needed it.
When I was 19, I got my first job.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 20, she asked whether you were seeing anyone. You thanked her by saying, "It's none of your business."
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong wrong wrong! I had developed a bit of a very secret crush on someone but never even let him know. It was all for the best. Far from arguing about it with Mom, I had a good laugh with her when I eventually told her about it and she said she had suspected.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 21, she suggested certain careers for your future. You thanked her by saying, "I don't want to be like you."
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong! That definitely never happened. Anyway, it is up to everyone to choose their own career. The one I chose was one that also makes mom proud, so you really need to button it already.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 22, she hugged you at your college graduation. You thanked her by asking whether she could pay for a trip to Europe.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong! There was no college grad ceremony, and I took my trip - not to Europe, but to California with two friends when I was 21, and we paid for it with our own money. It was our way of celebrating our high school graduation, even though it was a few years later. We had been planning it since graduation.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 23, she gave you furniture for your first apartment. You thanked her by telling your friends it was ugly.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: NOT!
I didn't move out at 23 anyway, and I'm more picky about comfort and durability than cosmetic appeal, and I don't trash talk people i respect let alone love… To anyone.
When I was 23, my first nephew was born. One of the best experiences of my life! My nieces and I were out on the trampoline we'd ranted for the summer, and when we got the news that Sis was having him, and our nieces were about to become cousins, we jumped on that trampoline until we dropped! We were absolutely dead trashed the next day. :) And the baby had arrived.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 24, she met your fiance? and asked about your plans for the future. You thanked her by glaring and growling, "Mom, please!"
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: *Scoff* Hooooh, boy, are you way off! I'm not married. I never was, and don't want to be. I was never engaged! and I like it that way!
đź–¤Meme: When you were 25, she helped to pay for your wedding, and she cried and told you how deeply she loved you. You thanked her by moving halfway across the country.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Wrong! See above. And you can apply that to some of my friends…
đź–¤Meme: When you were 30, she called with some advice on the baby. You thanked her by telling her; "Things are different now."
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Which baby? My second nephew was born when I was 27 - another best experience in my life! And Mom knew not to be pushy with advice to any new parents about raising children. I wouldn't be the one she would've given advice to about the baby anyway, if she had.
When I was 30, I got my first pet sugar glider possum, Mia.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 40, she called to remind you of a relative's birthday. You thanked her by saying you were "really busy right now."
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Nope… I usually just answer with "Oh" because really, what else is there to say? If the relative means anything to me and I have their contact info, I'll send them a bd wish via the internet if I can remember, but really. mom's far better at remembering birthdays than I am, and this includes people who mean very little to me. That's just how it is. No reflection on either of us.
đź–¤Meme: When you were 50, she fell ill and needed you to take care of her. You thanked her by reading about the burden parents become to their children.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: nope, didn't happen, not gonna happen either…
But since my second nephew was born, there have been more. A great nephew, and then a great-niece. Best experiences in life!
đź–¤Meme: Then, one day, she quietly died. And everything you never did came crashing down like thunder.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: thank god that has not happened! But when it eventually does, what I didn't do is not going to come crashing down like thunder. What will hit hard is that someone I loved and who loved me, died.
But I refuse to dwell on that part of the future. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it and not before. We don't know in what order people in any given family die anyway, so don't try pulling that. 'Nuff said! Next?
đź–¤Meme: "Rock me baby, rock me all night long. The hand who rocks the cradle...may rock the world."
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Huh? That was annoyingly random.
đź–¤Meme: Let us take a moment of the time just to pay tribute/show appreciation to the person called "MOM" though some may not say it openly to their mother.There's no substitute for her.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: You know what, though? There's no substitute for anybody. Everybody is different. There will never be another you, or another me, or another anyone. And I never said there would be.
đź–¤Meme: Cherish every single moment.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Oh, get real! I'll cherish what moments I can remember that are worth cherishing, and that's easy for me because of my good relationship with not only my Mom but all my family members. But you don't cherish any of the moments in life that truly suck, no matter who they involve.
đź–¤Meme: Though at times she may not be the best of friends, may not agree to our thoughts,
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: yes, and I'm sure there are times she could say the same things about me. Or anyone else. have you ever listened to that song from the musical "Chess" that goes "I Know Him So Well"? The first little bit of the second verse applies here.
đź–¤Meme: she is still your mother!
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: So, don't have a bird over it!
đź–¤Meme: She will be there for you...
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Look, that applies to our family, but it doesn't in cases where mothers and children are estranged through no fault of the children…
đź–¤Meme: to listen to your woes, your bragging, your frustrations, etc.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: See just above. Your supposed one size fits all template just doesn't work for everyone.
And yes, my Mom does all that, but she also expresses woes, pride, etc. and there is a lot I don't share with her, and a lot she can't effectively share with me because there are just parts of our lives that the other just can't relate to. And there's nothing the matter with that.
đź–¤Meme: Ask yourself...Have you put aside enough time for her, to listen to her "blues"
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Like I keep saying, if you knew me…………
đź–¤Meme: of working in the kitchen, her tiredness?
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: See above.
đź–¤Meme: Be tactful, loving and still show her due respect though you may have a different view from hers.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Fine, but it has to go both ways. And it does in my family.
đź–¤Meme: Once gone,
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: *Getting annoyed* Oh, don't start *that* again!
đź–¤Meme: only fond memories of the past and regrets will be left.
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: You know what? Everybody who lives long enough, has regrets of some kind, whether their fault or not. hopefully everyone has at least some fond memories too (and if not about their mother or father or sibling, than about someone else) life wouldn't be living if you didn't have so much as a fond memory of anything.
đź–¤Meme: ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: Huh? What was the question supposed to be?
đź–¤Meme: I'm not ashamed to say "I LOVE MY MOMMY"!
🧝‍♀️Ocean Elf:: I'm not ashamed to say I love anybody! But I haven't called my Mom "Mommy" since I was about kindergarten age or whenever that goes out of style for kids who are growing up. And I'm not gonna start talking babyish now.
Over and out.
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