She is that good

Mom and Dad have been back home for almost two weeks. She continues to recover from her fall at my house on Christmas Day, and is still taking some heavy-duty drugs when the pain kicks in. Recovering from a back injury has not been the speedy process they both hoped it would be. I think they thought if they could just get home, everything would be better. They do have their own doctors and friends and church. They’re sleeping in their own bedroom, although in separate beds, since the twin hospital bed would be a tight fit for two. And they do have the comforts of home, which I know is a comfort to them both. But the healing process is taking its own sweet time.

Last week I was checking in on Mom, seeing how she was feeling. It wasn’t an exceptionally good day – she learned she needed another surgery on her foot. Even though it will be out-patient, she’s not all that excited to go back under the knife. She’d had a bad night’s sleep the night before. Her tummy was upset. I learned none of this from her, of course. My aunt filled me in on all that. Mom just wanted to know how I was doing. I said a few words when she interrupted with, “Are you sick? Your throat doesn’t sound good.”

My own family hadn’t noticed the tickle in my throat but my Mom, under the influence of who knows what drugs, heard the scratch in my voice that I’d only felt a few hours before.

Y’all, she is that good.

I told her I was fine, that I just had a little bit of a sore throat, but not to worry. Three days later, my throat is still sore. And each time I cough, I remember my mom, on the phone, 800 miles away, diagnosed me with a cold and told me to get some rest.

She may have a broken back. She may have a broken foot. She may be loopy on drugs. But she is still a mom. And she knows when her baby is sick.

Man, I hope I turn out like her.