When the Tables Turn: Mother-Daughter Relations

I love this beautiful picture of my mom and dad taken about
60 years ago. 

As a little girl, my mom took very good care of me. She was always taking me shopping, out for ice cream sundaes, and to special movies and other events. Often, she would take my five siblings and I to my Aunt's for a great day of fun. I especially liked those days because my best cousin, Judy, was there, and she and I would play for hours competing with each other in games of Yahtzee, Scrabble, Landslide, Life, and Monopoly, baking cookies and making fudge, swimming in her pool, talking, walking adventures, and watching favorite shows.

Today, the tables have turned. Judy and I will take our 80+ year-old moms out to lunch. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and our moms don't get to see each other that often too due to their age and the fact that neither of them drive any more.

I'm sure there will be a lot of old stories shared as well as news about our many nieces, nephews, siblings, and cousins. It's a rare opportunity to spend time with people we love who have lived almost a century. Their memories of the past are as clear as day, and there's lots to learn from and enjoy in those old stories.

In all relationships, there is constant shift, but rarely is there such a dramatic shift as going from being cared for to the caretaker--it's an important shift to consider, and one that we'll experience again when our own children shift to being cared for to taking care of us. Onward.