My Mom

Tomorrow is my mom's 83rd birthday.  That's her on the left, the shorter one, and my 71 year old aunt is on the right.  Whenever people tell me I don't look my age, it is because of these fabulous genes on my maternal side.

My mom has always been petite, a good weight for her is 100 pounds, and there is some disagreement as to her actual height, is she really 5 feet tall or 4'11"??  Until just recently she has been physically fit, active and healthy, literally walking circles around people 20 to 30 years younger.  Other than a cold or two, I don't remember a time when she was ever ill.  She is little but mighty, as my brother would say, an Energizer Bunny.

On my maternal side is the Epps clan and on my paternal side is the Miller clan.  The Epps clan are the ones with the sparkling blue eyes, always laughing, telling some ribald tale, pulling quarters out of your ears and enjoying life to the fullest.  Even with life's challenges, there is laughter and a joke to be told.  You just love to be around them.  From my mom's side I have received the blue eyes, the curly hair, the quick wit and the gift of gab.  Also, some really good skin:).

I believe my mom is from the Fey World, the world of the Fairies.  Her middle name is Mae and she carries a twinkle and lightness of being evocative of the month of May when the flowers are in bloom and the Fairies are most visible to the human world.  She will sometimes have this faraway look in her eyes, almost a look of enchantment, and I wonder what world she is off visiting.  She has never shared where it is she goes, if she longs to return to that world, if there is the faintest of yearnings.

I celebrate my mother today, tomorrow, and hopefully many days to come.  I want to share more laughter with her, enjoy the sparkle in her eyes, receive her love and bask in her lightness.  Happy Birthday, Darlin' Mae.