What my Mother will be getting me for Mother's Day

I know, normally a person gives their mother a gift on Mother's day. In fact, every time I've been near a store the last week I've seen people seemingly overwhelmed with having to pick out their mom a gift. At least four people, during one trip to Walmart, ACTUALLY were walking around with those feet messaging pillows going, "Do you think she'll like these?"

You'll never know how close I come to saying, "No, idiot!"

Every time I've logged online the last week I've been bombarded with advertisements for Mother's Day gifts. And it wasn't to many years ago that I would have AT LEAST purchased cards for my mother, mother-in-law, ex-mother-in-laws, grandmother-in-laws, ex-grandmother-in-laws, and sisters. But that time has passed.

Somewhere between 38 and 42 I lost Pollyanna. You know her: miss "positive", little miss "sun shine", old "the sun will come out tomorrow" . . . oops, wrong person. I use to honestly PURSUE the belief that life was good and fair and than everyone wanted only good things for you.

Oh, I'm not all miss dark and negative . . . I'm just sort of "miss".

As mother's day approaches, I've paid it little to no thought at all. It's just another day. I have one daughter in CO that I've only seen once in 8 months, one that I probably will not see tomorrow, a 4-year old that is to young to understand a holiday, a sick husband, ex-in-laws that have finally become EX, and a mother I've only seen for about half an hour at my sisters funeral last winter (and that was 1/2 an hour to long).

While I have not given "my" mother's day much thought, I have been thinking about my mother. And I realize that the last few years without interacting with her have been a great blessing. So I started compiling a list of the things my mother has given me by being absent from my life, her gift to me these last few years.

1. I do not have to fear each phone call will be a plea for money or a desperate bid for attention
   
2. I do not have to fear each knock at the door will be my mother coming to live with me PERMENATLY
   
3. I do not have to pick out the gift hardest for her to gripe about once I leave town (and easiest for her to return)
   
4. I don't have to visit her with my ugly white son she can't stand to touch
   
5. I don't have to listen to her bad mouth my husband who is working his ass off to fix her house because he quit a better paying job and she could have used the money
   
6. I don't have to worry about ever taking my son to the nut house to visit his grandmother
   
7. I don't have to sent every spare penny we can scape together to her to get her perscriptions filled (a.k.a., a new tv for the bedroom)
   
8. I don't have to worry about getting letters in the mail that might be nice, but most likely will rip you to shreads as surely as if she'd taken a belt to your back
   
9. I don't have to worry about her killing my daughter off because she's convinces she's gay
   
10. I don't have to worry about how I'll talk Steve into driving up and working on her house, car, yard ONE MORE TIME
    

So, my mother's day gift to me from my mom, will be peace. The ability to enjoy my day without the constant struggle of her in it.

Thanks mom! You're the greatest!