Mom and me
Originally uploaded by Elizarock.

I often go walking in meadows of clover

Earlier today I called my mom and told her Happy Mother's Day--and of course proceeded to tie up her phone line for an hour and a half just chatting. One of the things I love about my mom is that I pretty much tell her everything, and she never tells me to stop. Fortunately she's the same way, so we get along. Really, really well, actually.

We didn't always get along--I guess that's sort of a given when you mother a teenage girl, at least if the girl is anything like I was. Well, looking back now, I think we got along more than I thought we did at the time. Barb's pretty easy to get along with. Unlike me, at least as a 14-year-old--I was very into tantrums and other theatrics. But I was also a little bit bi-polar--about as much as you can be without actually being bi-polar. I was very much into the "I hate you" (then five minutes later) "I mean I love you! I'm so sorry!" (Still a little bit into those emotional swings, actually, only less intensely [I think].)

I found these two journal entries awhile back--summer of 1997, I was 14. (The above picture I think is about summer of 1997, BTW.) Notice the dates--they're like a month apart. Kinda gave me a chuckle.

Happy Mother's Day--to Barb and to everyone!

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Friday, July 11, 1997

Have you ever been so mad at your mom you can hardly breathe, almost?

Well, I have.

I hate when I'm watching a program [Editor's note: who in the world says "program"?] and my mom is just sort of bustling around and not caring and then all of a sudden she IS caring. "Have you done your practicing?" "You haven't taken a shower, have you?" "All you ever do is sit around and watch TV." "You wouldn't talk to your father that way." "I have half a mind to unplug this TV and store it in the garage. Or, just get rid of it altogether." "You'd do FINE without TV." "Fluff, this is just fluff." "Soap operas? Isn't there anything better on?" "Days of Our Lives is pure trash." "There's two whole loads of clean laundry needing to be folded." "Why don't you get off the couch and DO something?" "If someone suddenly called and wanted you to go to Disneyland with them, you wouldn't be ready." (And how many calls like that have I gotten in the past, oh, fourteen years?) [Editor's note: So true. My mom used that threat a lot.] "When I was your age, I'd be punished if I talked to MY mother that way." "We're not TALKING about Phoebe or Hannah, we're TALKING about YOU." "You're just a LITTLE too smart-alecky, young lady." "You just worry about Eliza and I'll take care of the rest of the worrying." "If you want something to do, I have a whole long list of chores that need doing." "YOU are CRUISING..."

It never stops.

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Monday, August 18, 1997

My parents are probably the two most important people in my life. It's not like I tell them everything, or that they tell me everything...it's just that they're there, you know, in case I need them....It's really good to know that.

My mom is a great person. I wish I could be more like her. She's fair, she's kind, and she's firm in her beliefs. She makes you totally at ease because she can always find something to talk about. She has a loud, hearty laugh. She finds humor in a lot of things. She loves learning new things, and teaching them to everyone. She has a love for life and shares it. I like the way she pronounces my name "E-liza" instead of "Uh-liza." She puts up with my tantrums. And she loves me.

I love her. I don't tell her everything, I get more annoyed with her than I do anyone else, and she's awesome.