I went online to find out more about Twilight. In my Google search I found one site that had the definition of the word. I decided to read exactly what it had to say. Of course, most of us know that twilight occurs immediately after the sun goes down, but another definition they listed was “a condition of decline” such as "in ones twilight years.” This definition caused me to think about my Mom.
I can say with certainty that Mom is in her twilight years. She will be 82 on March 31st. I believe if you asked her she would say she has had a good life. She was born in Vienna, Austria in 1928. My grandmother named her Astrid, meaning "Little Star." She told me once that she was named after Queen Astrid of Belgium who was the wife of King Leopold III. I must mention here that my mother's brother was named Leopold. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.
I don’t know much about her early life as she doesn’t tell many stories about those times. I do know that times were tough then, that she did not know her father, and that her mother had to work to support them and was forced to leave her in the care of others (foster family and grandparents) from the time she was a baby until she was seven years old.
Back in late 2007 I put together a pictoral history for Mom's upcoming 80th birthday. She provided lots of pictures and I put them together in a dvd set to music. In the five months it took me to put this half hour dvd together, I got to know Mom on another level. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I had hundreds of pictures, each one with a story to tell. As I glimpsed moments of time in her life from when she was a baby up to age 79, I discovered Mom was a beautiful and courageous woman.
Mom and Dad met in 1946 when she was working for the American Allied Forces and he was in the Army stationed nearby. Dad was with the 24th Constabulary (military police) standing watch at the border between the Russian and American occupation zones. In 1948 Mom left her home and country and traveled to New York City to marry Dad and join his large Puerto Rician family. They married on February 3, 1949 (exactly 40 years later Rick and I would be married on that same day). What courage it must have taken on her part to leave her family behind and come to a country where the only person she knew would soon be her husband. I admire that courage.
A few years ago I was in a book store and saw a book on zodiac signs. On a whim I opened it up and looked up my mothers sign Aries. It had this to say about the 1928 Aries: "The Fearless Adventurer. You need to be free to experience everything the world has to offer. With your restless and inquisitive nature, you tend to rush forward into unchartered territory. Your greatest strengths are your energy and your courage." Yep, that's my Mom.
Dad is gone now and Mom has continued on without him for almost twelve years. She has her cats and her books that take up most of her time. When you think about it, Mom and Dad are really not so different from Edward and Bella. Both were from different cultures yet both fell in love and took a risk to be with eachother. And because of that, I am here experiencing my own life and loves. Thank you Mom and Dad.
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