My Mother's Ideas

In her later years, whenever she could, my mother got into the habit of leaving traces of herself in hidden places around our house (under a seat cushion or beneath a bed mattress...). What did she leave? Things of herself or her belongings that she no longer used. For example, a strand of her white hair... Did she believe that people forget quickly? I know many things that used to hurt my mother. However, her deepest wound was from children she knew who left their parents never to return. They wandered in faraway cities, without any word or inquiry. My mother, in ways she might have invented herself or inherited from her family, refused to let us forget her, especially in her absence. She knew that we, both young and old, loved her sincerely and wished for her to always be well. What she wanted to ensure was that we would bind up her wound even after she was gone. My mother's ideas are amazing! Today, I brushed off, from a garment I was wearing, a white hair that had fallen from me. I could not help but remember my mother's habit and smiled!