and baby makes 6!

Innocence is not out of style

One of the things that I like most about my mother is that she is incredibly innocent.  She calls sleeping with someone before marriage an "affair", one glass of wine makes her laugh and laugh, she sings "Dance with the Dollies" to my daughter, and calls Quinn her little vagabond.

As difficult as my relationship with her has been at times, her innocence has always brought a smile to my face.  Many moments stand out in my memory. 

One afternoon, when my brother was in college, he and a good friend came over to our house to say hi to my mom.  They sat in the kitchen talking about girls, school, and whatnot.  My mom asked if any of the kids were "doing" marijuana.  Whoa nelly.  Jack and Jeff burst out laughing and replied "Here and there"  My mom said "I cant believe it!  Really?  Where do they get it?"  Mind you , this was around 1980.  She then asked, "How does it make them feel?"  Jeff told her "Oh, its great Mrs. Rasmussen.  Its called a joint, you smoke it and it makes you feel happy"  My mom then said "Oh, go get a joint, Jeff, and we can smoke it before Mr. Rasmussen gets home!".  Everyone burst out laughing because it was so ridiculous.  She is like that, my mom.  A bit goofy and very easy to talk with about anything.  Our house was where all our friends wanted to go when we were older, because it was fun, and they enjoyed my parents.

She came to visit us on one occasion, and at bedtime, she was washing up as we turned out the lights in the house.  Bill and I went on into our room just as she came out of the bathroom.  She wanted the cat to come sleep on her bed (she LOVES animals), so she began calling her.  Remember our cats name?  Yeah, you got it.  She started saying "Here Pussy, KittyKittyKittyKitty.  Puuuuussssy!  Wheres my Pussy?  KittyKittyKitty!  I can’t find my little Pussy."  Billy and I were spasmodically laughing on the floor of our room, trying to catch our breaths, then she would say "Billy, I can’t find my Pussy.  Do you know where she is?"  OhmyGoditwassodangfunny!  Just too funny.  She was oblivious to why we were laughing so hard.

I think of her funny ways, and I am thankful that she has found a doctor who feels that quality of life is excellent, but so is just a bit more quantity.  Because of her Von Willibrands disease, she is not a cardiac bypass candidate (remember her 70% blockage?).  The chance of her dying on the table is just too high.   Her new doctor is excellent, and with some new meds, her blood pressure is within normal range now.  The heart enlargement from her out of control BP is also going down.  She also started the diet "Reversing Heart Disease" by Dr. Dean Ornish.      

So, it seems for now, we have bought some time with Mom.  I am hoping that she will get one of her wishes……to see Cory graduate from college.  Assuming that he puts his nose to the grindstone when he gets to college and graduates in 4 years, that just might be within reason now!!!!

It just might.