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Mama Was Up the Ladder. Again.


Sawing. Clipping. Raking. Sweeping. Pushing dried limbs, branches, vines, leaves, and seed pods into plastic bags. That's how I spent most of my afternoon.

It wasn't what I had planned. When the Husband and I left this morning to do the errands, the Mama was reading the newspaper in the living room. Ninety minutes later, I looked out the back door to see a high limb on the miracle tree precariously hanging above the Mama, who sat beside the tall ladder, stripping dried leaves from skinny branches into her bucket.

I was furious. One, the Mama had been up the ladder. And, two, I had asked her the other day, after cutting back her banana trees, if she'd like me to prune the rest of the miracle tree. "No," she said. "The green (recycle) can is already full." Good, I thought, I'd prune the tree next Thursday.  Ha!

"You know we don't like you on the ladder," I growled, throwing my purse on the ground, and hurriedly climbing the ladder to saw off the limb. I proceeded to cut away at whatever else I could reach. Knowing that I was annoyed, the Mama toddled into the house when I asked her to take her medicine. Peace finally reached my head and I went into the house to put some groceries away and change my clothes.

About ten minutes after I was back on the ladder, the Husband came out to help. He took over pruning the tree, while I stripped the branches of seed pods and cut them into pieces that would eventually fit the green can.

"Why did you do this?" I asked the Mama, after reminding her that she didn't want me to finish pruning the tree yet.

"I didn't want you to work so hard," the 93-year-old woman said.

Sigh.



Comments

  1. This is so familiar to me, except I would substitute my father for your mama. I am so happy that Dad is so independent, but sometimes it's scary!

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    Replies
    1. It's always reassuring when I hear someone else having similar experiences with their elderly, but very independent, parents.

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  2. She is one spunky gal! It's so funny how we become the parent in some ways. She is still looking out for you and that is sweet but glad you gave her a little hell. Reminds me of me with my mom (when she was well)

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  3. Susie,

    I just love your stories. I can feel your worry and frustration, but most of all the love you and the Mama share.

    Banana trees? When I was a child and lived in Queensland (further north) we had a banana tree in our garden. It looked like a broomstick when my mother first planted it. We didn't think it would survive but it did, and it even produced a few bananas. There was a banana plantation close to where we sometimes went on holiday. At the entrance was the Big Banana, a huge concrete (?) banana which tourists could enter. Inside was a display all about banana farming. Bananas don't grow where we live now, but we do have a Big Potato in a nearby village!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Were you able to eat your bananas? Last year, three of the plants produced baby bananas. Our weather and climate is such that the bananas can't fully develop. On one hand that's good. Every year, after the hard frost, we cut back the plants and every spring, they come back.

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  4. Thanks for visiting my blog, glad you liked the post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mama wants to be useful even at 93 ~ Am sure you know that ~ great post ~ Aging is hard yet we begin to age at birth and none us feel that until 'suddenly we have aged' ~ I just finished reading 2 books memoirs of a Chinese American woman ~ Fifth Chinese Daughter and No Stranger Chinese ~ very fascinating reading and enlightening for me ~ Just thought I would mention it ~

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jade Snow Wong! When I lived in SF as a young thing, I told myself to read Fifth Chinese Daughter every time I saw her shop. I think I will for my reading challenge. Thanks for mentioning her books, Carol.

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  6. If the Mama keeps this up, you're gonna hit 100 before she does!

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Thanks for the good cheer. :-)

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