
Mom enjoyed catching me unaware of the things that were going on around me. With telling this story, I don’t want the reader to get the wrong idea about my mother. She was a very refined effeminate representative of her gender! I was and am very blessed to have such a representative of femininity in my life and will always revere her. In fact, as I was dating my wife to be, we walked along ski areas during the summer. There she queried how I felt about my mother and I responded “She is a queen.” I’m fairly confident that my wife to be was probing me to ascertain how I regarded women. What she failed to recognize, is that my mother was an extraordinarily righteous woman. And that made all the difference.
Nevertheless, my mother liked verbally sparing with me as I grew; and I found this verbal challenge quite stimulating and would ‘give as good as I got’ from this trusted woman who’d lead me into young manhood. My mom had a particular saying that she expressed often when the topic of chance would emerge in conversation. She’d repeat the word ‘Chance’ as if to emphasize the concept and establish it as the foundation for that which was to come. Then she’d pronounce her quote –
I once took a chance on an Indian Blanket! Came up with a cute little papoose!
Inasmuch as this exchange started taking place while I was very young and naïve; I did not grasp the full extent of its meaning. My focus was more on the Indian blanket itself and mom’s ability to barter for a native American article. I believe she nonchalantly provided such repartee in order to assess where her little boy was growing in his comprehension of the world about him. Watching my demeanor, she was able to assess that her little boy was still quite innocent. As I entered my early teens; I began to consider mom’s comment whenever it arose. It might only come up once a year and I never gave it much thought. I believe mom quite enjoyed having a position of strength over her son.

Then it happened, one day in Lake Tapps mom expressed her saying. This time, however, I caught her eyeing me – for just a second. With that, I began to examine her comment. When I comprehended the full extent of the comment; I exclaimed “Mom!” – somewhat alarmed that my sainted mother might express such a saying with a hidden meaning. She looked at me and just nodded her head as if to confirm my conclusion. Her son had finally caught up in his comprehension of the world that surrounded him. Additionally, he’d finally realized that though his mother was a deeply refined woman; it did not mean that she hadn’t a full comprehension of the world about her. Though I’d always appreciated my mother; I now respected her far above what my naivety had permitted previously. She’d wisely preserved her little boy’s naivety until it was no longer wise. She’d then prodded him toward a deeper understanding that he’d arrive at on his own. This is only one example of her raising me –
there were many!
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