My Mum is 84. For various reasons she has given up driving and so now I am the family chauffeur. It makes me grumble sometimes when I get a call to take her somewhere on the last minute. But today on a beautiful, sunny fall day, I realized that I have the honour and pleasure of spending time with a woman who has taught me to count my pennies; appreciate the things that have no price like the geese paddling on the river, share my bounty when I have it and be appreciative of the kindness that other people show. She is thrilled when she can find bargains at Value Village that she can give away to others. Every shopping trip takes 4X as long as it would take me but that's because she "chucks" little children on the chin and tells them how good they're being for their mums, she meets countless people she has known over the years who always have a hug or a kiss for her. She makes a few mistakes putting her "self-check" through but is ever so kind to the lady who helps her. She tells exaggerated stories to anyone who will listen about MY accomplishments as well as my brothers'. She shows her latest pictures of her grandsons (my nephews) and takes time to sneak a peak at her favourite picture of my dad, who left this world over 10 years ago. She calls everyone "Love". And she walks VERY SLOWLY, but her hand grip crushes mine as we "link arms" to walk from the car to the store where she can negotiate around with the help of the cart. I'm looking forward to next year and hoping that we can make this kind of trip again on a sunny fall afternoon.
Some brags come without a pricetag.
