My mother is often around.
She does not live far from my sister, brother and I and so she often comes over to spend time with me and the kids.
She spends time with us at the lake.
She often comes along on family vacations.
She lives alone and is happy to have her time and space - but, she also enjoys the time she spends with her family.
Sometimes, though - she takes trips and is gone for periods of time.
She gets a nice little vacation.
She gets a nice little break ... from us.
We get a nice little break ... from her (tee hee).
Recently, my mother's youngest sister and her husband left their home in West Virginia and flew down to Texas.
They planned a trip with my mother.
They got into my mother's car and headed off together on a cross country road trip.
They were going to ... Colorado
And then ... Wyoming and Montana.
And on to Washington.
On a Thursday morning, I picked up the phone and dialed my mother's cell phone.
She answered quickly, "HELLO!" she SCREAMED into the phone.
"Mother," I said.
"YES - HI!" she bellowed.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"WE'RE JUST ABOUT TO CROSS OVER INTO WY-OM-ING," she is talking SO LOUD, like she does when she talks to folks that can't speak English - I have to hold the phone away from my ear.
"Mother," I say.
"YES."
"I can hear you," I whisper.
"Oh."
Like I said ...
We get a nice little break ... from her too.
On the upside ... I honestly don't think she believed she was actually YELLING ... ALL THE WAY FROM WY-OM-ING ... but ... if I had gone out on my back porch ... I'll just bet I could have heard her and ... since I DO speak English - I'd have understood EVERY WORD!