Mom mom

So. Many of you seemed to be intrigued by my Mom mom, the 80 year old woman that has aided in the development of Billy's cursing vocabulary. I really should state that Mom mom isn't completely responsible for Billy's cursing, but we do hear a lot more of "you don't know shit from shiola" after one of Mom mom's visits. (seriously, what is a shiola anyway?)

I am not even sure where to begin to tell you about Mom mom. She is definitely one of a kind. She is just like any other nice elderly Catholic woman, except she doesn't attend church regularly, she curses a lot, she loves to "play the slots" and she says "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" quite often but I assure you she is not praying. She is by far one of my most favorite people in the entire world.

I will be 33 in June, and I know how fortunate I am to still have a living grandparent and even more so to have one that has been such an integral part of my life. When I look back at all the important events, they always include the memory of Mom mom there to support me. She was even in the room when I delivered Billy, looking pretty terrified but I think, none the less, amazed that she was able to witness the birth of one of her great grandchildren. It was actually one of the only times that I have ever encountered her to be speechless, believe me it doesn't happen often.

Although we are separated in age by 48 1/2 years, Mom mom is definitely one of my best friends. We talk on the phone just about everyday, sometimes twice. She gets irritated with me when I call the neighbors if I can't reach her. I explain to her that if she just got one of those life alerts, we wouldn't have this problem but she just tells me "to go shit in my hat". (I have been trying to figure out for years why anyone would be shitting in a hat, but I guess to each his own) We also attempted to encourage her to possibly move into a retirement home last year after she fell and broke her arm but she quickly shot that down and told us that she was not going into any "god damn facility" and that we could "shove that up our ass". The hubby and I have offered her on several occasions to live with us but she refuses to live with anyone. I will hand it to her, she proved us all wrong and went back to her place at the beach after her arm healed and picked up exactly where she left off before the fall. To say she is tough, is an understatement. She tells it like it is and I never have to wonder what she is thinking, although sometimes I would prefer for her to keep a few things inside of her head. At 80 she still takes care of herself, she is never one to make excuses and losing her independence and having someone take care of her is simply not an option. She is kind of my hero.

Our relationship has evolved quite a bit over my 33 years but we have always had an unexplainable bond. When I was a child she was my protector, and as I became older she was one of my biggest supporters but now as as adult I can honestly say she is my great friend. I am so grateful to have had her input and support while I am navigating motherhood. It's one of the things that I have enjoyed the most with her. She understands the demands of  being a mother to all boys with a husband who works many hours. She has been there. She understands my want to have a little girl in this family has nothing to do with being unhappy with my sons but more the need to have that different type of dynamic that comes with a daughter. She always tells me "well, maybe you will just have a granddaughter instead". It always warms my heart at the fact that maybe I provided that dynamic for her, even if she had to wait an additional generation.

I used to try to barter with God and ask that if he could just make sure she saw me graduate college and that turned into if she can just see me get married, which turned into if she can just be with me through the birth of my first child and so on and so forth. I realized that it would never be enough because I wanted her here for all of it, for everything. The logical part of me understands that it is not possible for her to be a part of my life forever, but my heart struggles with the fact that there may come a time when I will not be able to share with her a funny story, the days happenings or discuss how much she despises Joe Flacco, who she loving refers to as a "Hayseed". Sorry Joe.

So that is my Mom mom in a nutshell. I am sure she will pop up in future posts because she is such big part of my life but for now I hope you have an understanding of what a pretty awesome lady she is. Now, does anyone know what the hell a "hayseed" is?