![\"2013-05-05](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/2013-05-05-07.34.18.jpg\")
<\/a>Sunday is Mother\u2019s Day and as you loyal readers know, our mother passed away earlier this year.\u00a0 So this is the first Mother\u2019s Day that we will not have a mother to send flowers, cards and well-wishes to.\u00a0\u00a0 Last year my brother Bob and his wife Linda sent mom such a beautiful arrangement of flowers that mom commented to me that it was the best gift she had ever<\/i> received.\u00a0\u00a0 Which only cemented my hunch that she always liked him best.<\/p>\nAs anyone who knew her could attest, she was a driven and opinionated woman.\u00a0 No misplaced hair or wrinkled shirt went unnoticed \u2013 or commented upon.\u00a0 She was the first to point out that we had gained a few pounds.\u00a0\u00a0 Mom took great pride in her appearance, always wearing a perfectly coordinated outfit, matching shoes and oftentimes donning a rather large hat.\u00a0 Her children, by contrast, are big fans of what I like to refer to as \u201csoft clothes\u201d.\u00a0 Anything that has an elastic waistband or has been washed to within an inch of its life is just great with us.\u00a0 \u00a0In other words, we sometimes look like we were raised by wolves \u2013 a trait that bothered her no end.<\/p>\n
My differences with her were many; we just seemed to view the world from opposite perspectives.\u00a0 This was never more apparent than when she bought a new pair of reading glasses several years ago.\u00a0 By this time I was watching her finances and reviewing her cash flow every three months.\u00a0 So when she told me she had spent $500 on a pair of Versace glasses (see picture above) I just about keeled over.\u00a0 I knew that she was already running low on money and couldn\u2019t believe her extravagance.\u00a0 \u201cWhy in the heck would you spend that kind of money?\u201d I shouted into the phone.\u00a0 She explained that they had little diamonds in them and that she just wanted something from a top designer.\u00a0 I was furious.\u00a0 But not as furious as I was six months later when she lost them.<\/p>\n
And just to demonstrate how seriously she took my financial advice, she promptly spent another<\/i> $500 to buy the very same pair again.\u00a0 I was flabbergasted.\u00a0 Here was a woman who saved aluminum foil remnants and took home doggie bags that went stale in her refrigerator just because she couldn\u2019t \u201cwaste good money\u201d by leaving food at a restaurant.\u00a0 I thought she had lost her mind.<\/p>\n
Turns out, she had only lost her memory.\u00a0 A few weeks after she bought the second pair of glasses she discovered the first pair in the lost and found drawer at her church.<\/p>\n
After she died we were cleaning out her apartment and I noticed that her reading glasses were on the nightstand.\u00a0 I tucked them into my purse for safekeeping \u2013 I\u2019d be darned if I was going to throw away a $500 pair of glasses!\u00a0 I thought they would be a good reminder of her foolish spending.\u00a0 When I got home I put them on top of my closet dresser, where I see them every day.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago I looked at them (with my $18 Costco reading glasses) and noticed that quite a few of the diamonds are missing. \u00a0Her vision was so poor that I\u2019m sure she was blissfully unaware of their current shabby condition.\u00a0 I began to see the glasses in a different light.\u00a0 Maybe they aren’t \u00a0a reminder of her foolish spending but rather that when I am old, \u00a0I might also make some choices that others think inappropriate. \u00a0 \u00a0Maybe when I\u2019m old, I too will want just one extravagant thing that makes me feel good, even when I can\u2019t afford it.\u00a0 Maybe when I get older I will begin to see things through my mother\u2019s eyes. \u00a0Who knows? \u00a0Maybe I’ll even buy very expensive reading glasses \u2013 twice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Sunday is Mother\u2019s Day and as you loyal readers know, our mother passed away earlier this year.\u00a0 So this is the first Mother\u2019s Day that we will not have a mother to send flowers, cards and … read more