On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me – Moms
Eep! We’re at the halfway point of our days of Christmas! Since it’s a milestone post, I think it calls for a very special subject – moms.
In Candy Canes & Coffee Beans, Judith Rye is the cat-loving, filter-challenged mother of Asher Rye. She loves her cats. She loves her son (and yes in that order at times). And she falls in love with the wee Sawyer Grant the minute he enters her house. Of all the characters in the book, she was easiest to write – she’s my mom.
My mother. God, what can I say about her. She was crazy, but in a “god I love this woman” kind of way. She loved her animals, well actually any animal, more than most people. She talked with her hands, and she loved with all of her heart. She passed away five years ago this Christmas, and I still reach for my phone during my day when something funny happens because that’s what we did. I miss her like crazy.
There was also no one that loved Christmas like my mom. Every memory I have of the holidays makes me smile or chuckle. Like the time we decided to string popcorn for the tree only to find the dog was eating the popped kernels off the string just as quickly as we were stringing them. Or the year we rewrote the Christmas carol “O’Tannenbaum” into a song about a gangrenous leg. Yeah, I can’t remember what prompted it, but I still remember all of the words. Or when we both almost passed out from laughing when we discovered there were three cats looking out at us from inside the Christmas tree. I think that was the year we decided fresh trees might not be an option anymore. Christmas doesn’t shine quite so brightly now that she’s gone.
I’m sure my mother will find her way into more of my stories, as every story needs a slightly crazy mom.
Until tomorrow all!
Saxon