A bit of a drama queen

"Mom, I don't know how you do it." This is usually the opening line in the two different conversations I have with my mother. The first conversation is an exasperated tone that indicates my mother has managed to complicate life and turn situations into a chaotic mess, one more time. The second conversation indicates my mother has done something I can be proud of and shows remarkable character and integrity.

My mother is 5.5' and 1/2 feet of determination and character, who blames her ditsy moments on her bleached blond hair and is convinced if you walk through rainbows you'll wind up multicolored.

She is a free spirit that loves life and tends to ignore details. Time is optional as far as she's concerned and I often tell her programs start a 1/2 hour early to make sure she's there. Her freely expressed opinions, good and bad, highlight the love/hate relationship existing between herself and family members. She is quick to anger and even quicker to forgive; she will laugh with you one minute, cry the next, fight with you tomorrow and help you with projects today.

This description might make her sound a bit bipolar. She's not, but she is a passionate woman easily swayed by emotions. I know many people, but none follow their hearts as easily and as often as my mother does. This flexibility on her part has resulted in 3 college degrees, four husbands, countless moves, a love of life, and resilience that allows her to cope with whatever situation arises. Currently she is a bus driver and a substitute teacher, who is planning to go back to school to obtain her LPN.

For someone like myself who weighs options, in an effort to make educated choices mother's snap decisions both annoy and astound me.

Her eccentricities aside, my mom is a creative individual who can design anything she puts her mind to. For years, she was the chief designer for Vacation Bible School at church and I cannot count the number of newspaper mountains and cardboard corrals she has created. My 3-D snowman Sam is one of her creations, though the idea was mine, she was the one that made it happen.

The term "never grew up" has been used in reference to my mother on occasion. I disagree with this statement. For all of her childish and funky ways my mother realizes perfectly well, how serious life can be, she just chooses to ignore it.

All things aside I have come to realize that she will always be easily swayed by her emotions and will follow those feelings in any direction they lead. My role is to simply accept the decision for the day and try to help sort out the complications when she needs me.

My mother has become one of my best friends and when I add up her good qualities, I can make the educated choice to forgive her for being a bit of a drama queen. After all, my mother's favorite part of life is laughter and her mistakes are easily forgotten when she laughingly explains that "life would have be boring without [her] around."