bob and weave

They should do a ki-ya or make some sort of noise or something when they’re going to deliver a rib crunching blow. It always hurts more when you’re not expecting it. Those “your position will be cut” jabs or the some other traumatizing roundhouse to the jaw. I’m recovering, quite nicely from the last two months surprises and fun. But how do you prepare for the mom punch. A blinding left to the eye that leaves you blinded till the bell rings. The realization that (incidentally I thought I’d prepared for) your mom’s body is not going to last as long as you wanted it to or thought it would. She will not be here forever and she did not stumble across the immortality pill. It was a really hard blow that I didn’t see coming because it’s out of thin air. There’s no disease or tumor or anything, that we know of, but there is something. Something causing my mom to be less than the pillar she’s been. A crack in her shield. I’ve got a grumpy dad that’s lived with pain for a long time… that makes him a crotchety old man. He’s tired and sore and has started to lose his balance. He basically has very little shield so he stand’s behind my mom’s. I’ve expected these things would happen sooner or later with him for the last 14 years and 11 months, so I listen to him tell me what happened and if it isn’t too serious file it in the circular. If something were really bad I’d hop too, but the finding out wouldn’t be the crusher. I’ve already found out. It’s like the initial blow has been absorbed and the shockwave is all that’s left. Today I find myself wiping my nose and drying my tears as I realize that’s what hurts about my mom… Her shield of infallibility is cracked. And it’s not a pinhole this time. There have been a couple times when I’d thought she’d been hit hard enough but her shield held strong. And maybe it will this time too, but the crack is there. My mom is a strong woman. She doesn’t have a job that let’s her relax or sit, she works several evenings after work and on her days off, she cares for an aging couple that have a multitude of issues all on top of living with a grumpy old man who is certain that if he yells loud enough they will hear him through the TV. She’s not perfect and we have our moments. But she’s my mom. There are lessons I could not have learned from anyone else. Humor through life’s difficulties, some tears are best let fall in silence and never stray far from the ocean – it’s amazing how true this is. I think the thing most reflected in my day-to-day life is, that being a good friend is not always easy and the reward isn’t always instant, but it is always worth the trouble. The punches will settle to bruises in lovely shades of purple and green. I’ll absorb the knowledge and move into that part of my life that adult children get to have. So my fitness plan will include more upper body because I guess it’s time I start using my shield.