Looking straight at me and chatting away … where did all those words go? Has he heard a single thing, I wonder? And then I remembered, “What Momma Said”.
“He was such a good listener. He just didn’t hear well.”
I thought of Greta Thunberg. In her famous climate change speech, she used the words ‘blah, blah, blah’ to mock world leaders. Just the other day, I watched my son lecture the dog because she had done something she wasn’t supposed to do. Figgy sat there, head cocked to one side, and I knew she was hearing, “blah, blah, blah, blah.” Oh my, but that set me off in peels of laughter and visions of cartoons flashed in my head.
I was sure I told him! Perhaps I am becoming forgetful or am I having all these wonderful conversations in my head? Some of it was just unimportant things, like the weather or the state of the world economy, or the pandemic, or food insecurity, or about the children going back to school.
But some of it was absolutely brilliant. I am sure of it. It was intertwined with such words of wisdom – the wisdom that comes as we grow older. After all, I know so much now.
Ignored by the Best
At this point in my life, I have been effectively ignored by every generation. That’s right – from the youngest to the oldest. There was the infant whose eyes wandered away from me to brighter objects in the room. Then the two year old who laughed and ran to hide in the dryer. The eleven year old who was having too much fun watching some comedy strip on TiKTok. Then the teenager who looked at me with love as she rolled her eyes and sighed. The 46 year old looked with such apparent interest, hanging on to every word – so I thought. Most recently my 90 year old aunt tuned me out so she could tend to a pot of pea soup she had on the stove.
Yup! Effectively ignored by every generation!
Have you ever read the children’s book, “Mickey McGuffin’s Ear” by John Hall? Oh my, but you really should!
Mickey who hears pretty well except when he cant remember what his mom told him to do embarks on a journey of imagination and discovery. It is such a wonderful, funny little book and packed with words of wisdom as I find many children’s books are.
Momma said something
last May or November.
Must have been important.
I just can’t remember!
I always try to listen
whenever she speaks.
Sometimes I wonder
If my ear has a LEAK!”
~ by John Hall
Some of you may be old enough to remember autograph books – do they still have such things? When I was in school (probably around grade six or seven), I always had an autograph book. I went searching for it the other day but it was not in my trunk and nowhere to be found. Perhaps I had thrown it away years before thinking it was no longer of use or importance. But I remember in every book, my Mom was always the first to write a few words. She always signed it “Love, Mommie”. I remember that handwriting so well – beautiful penmanship with every letter perfectly formed and flowing across the page.
The words she wrote were always words to live by – words of advice, of comfort, of support. Some are cemented in my mind with no need for paper to record.
- Love many. Trust few. But be sure to paddle your own canoe
- Familiarity breeds contempt
- This too shall pass
- Always speak the truth
- Stop and think before you speak
- Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
- Do not wish ill of another
- Give freely and quietly
- Never let the sun set on your anger
- There’s nothing more valuable than your integrity
- Be humble for there will always be greater persons than you
“Remember no matter where life takes you, no matter where you go, no matter what you do, you can always come home.”
What are some of the words that you have been given I wonder – words that stick with you, no matter life’s twists and turns.
Do you remember what Momma said?
