Seeing Mom in Strathroy

An unexpected Opportunity

Mom has been in and out of my life for years. Back in the day, there really wasn’t a choice on that. In my high school days, we were tight, until my mom’s first tumor. I’m not going to dwell too much in my mom’s history health wise. As a rule of thumb, she’s come and gone in my life. Sometimes it’s a matter of things happening, and sometimes things fall between the cracks.

At the pandemic I wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with me. I was in Windsor and she knew it. During the pandemic I never saw her. It wasn’t COVID reasons. It just for whatever reason the visit didn’t happen.

Things started to change right around my birthday last year. My grandmother from Windsor and I talked around my birthday. She told me she gave my mom my number. I want this to be clear; I’ve never been shy about letting my mom get ahold of me. I didn’t have a problem. I got my first text from my mom in years. We chatted a little bit, and then when I got to Detroit, I went back to Windsor and saw her for the first time.

We got to talk. Really talk for a long time. We talked about the distance between, and we agreed to try and get ahold of each other. (And mom, I know you’re reading this. Money is stopping the phone. I’m alright. I love you. Will call when I can soon.)

We vowed to see each other during the month of December, and we did that, just before Christmas. I got to travel back to Strathroy Ontario for the first time in almost twenty years. Strathroy is a small town about thirty minutes from London. It’s gotten a little bigger since I last saw it. The edge of the town has grown by a kilometre or two since I was there last. The school system has divided into both a public school and a french immersion school.

Beyond that, I got to spend a lot of time with Mom and Gary, her husband, and their dogs. The dogs are big. They are giant huskies that protect their owners fiercely. It took a little time for them to get used to me.

I spent two days with Mom, Gary. I taught them Zoom. I’m still waiting for that zoom call, but I spent about an hour answering questions about how to operate a computer. I made it a point to teach them. Second, Gary is secretly a good card player. Mom may be the luckiest player I’ve ever played against, but the secret to negating her instant wins is to deal more cards. In that environment, Gary is quite formidable. He did quite well.

I spent the few days with mom, and it was alright. I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it. I had some bailies and ice cream, and had a bit of a christmas right there.

Well, I did have oma pancakes here too…

I had a good time. I was happy to see you mom. Love you.