A Mother's Day Interview

Mary Luttrell with her mother, Mildred Smiser Vyverberg, age 99

What a wonderful opportunity to honor mothers, young or old, on Mother's Day by spending some quality time together, giving your mother, or a mother you know, an opportunity to share the wisdom of her years (age does have its advantages). Listen to her words, but don't stop there because much is communicated in other ways. Mary Luttrell of Forestville, CA did just that on a recent trip to visit her mother, Mildred, in Florida:

On Sunday afternoon, February 13, I had an extraordinary conversation with Mom. She was in bed, drowsy, but not sleeping. She is still and small, and I sat by her bed. She would look at me with her eyes just slightly open, or just with one eye at a time, conserving her energy. We had several rounds of repeated conversations in answer to her questions of "Where am I?" and "Is my mother/Sis (her sister)/Sam (her brother)still living?" Mother has long been widely regarded for her humor, wit and commentary. I took notes as we talked. Here are some of her comments that afternoon:

"I'm glad you came to see me, but I'm afraid I'm a little wilted."

"What are you doing running around loose?"

"How long have I been dilapidated?"

"Am I sick or just temporarily slowed down?"

"How old am I? Did you say 99? Well, that's a whopper."

"How long have I been in bed? Well, that's a nuisance."

"I'm glad you have a fiancé. It's good for you to have company, someone that's interested. I just want you to be happy. You just go along and be happy. Say hello for me."

When she asked when I was going back to California, she said, "Well, I'll be gone by then. But we can't all be on the same train."

"I'm not sure I'll last much longer. We can't have everybody going on for years and years. It wouldn't work out right."

"I'll check up on you all sometime."

"We can't have everything we want all the time. You can't change things, so just enjoy what you have."

"Things don't stay the same, do they? They keep turning over and turning over. We will see what we will see."

"Is this a north-facing room? I don't think I'm going to need it anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I don't think I will have an extended life."

"I'm going to miss you, but you can't keep going on and on. Somehow I'm not extremely excited one way or the other."

"I'm glad I got to see you and hear you. It means so much more."

"I'm not sure I'll last that much longer. Thanks for coming to see me. I'll be waiting around the corner for you. I'll be looking for you one of these days."

At one point, when I said "I love you, Mom," she replied, "Well that's good; that brightens things up."

"Bye, bye, Hon. I'll see you sometime."

Thank you, Mary, for sharing your mother's 99 years of hard-earned wisdom with our readers. Happy Mother's Day, Mildred!