Mom & Me Two Archive

...sleep good."
    We kiss goodnight.
    "You too."
    "I'll see you in the morning."
    "Yes, you will, and I'll see you in the morning."
    That's my mother having the last word in our 'Night 'Night ritual.
    Tonight, on my way out of her bedroom, I realized that it is this ritual that insures that my mother will awaken the next morning. We pledge to see each other the next day. We both know we're not only looking forward to that mutual morning greeting, we rely on it. It gives us both a reason to get through the night.
    Some of the important guarantees of this seemingly insignificant ritual are:

1. That it will be the same person greeting her every morning, regardless of what mood that person, or she, is in;
2. That it will be someone with whom she is so familiar and who is so familiar with her that small talk will immediately begin upon arising, even if the small talk is along the lines of, "Why should I get up?!?"
3. That she knows the person greeting her in the morning is as dependent on her awakening as she is on being awakened by that person;
4. That it will happen within a household that contains the implements of not only her life but the life of the one who awakens her and that her presence in this household is as significant as the presence of the one who awakens her.

    I think this bodes well for my mother awakening for many, many mornings to come.
    'Night 'night.