I'm Sorry, But Your Mom Has Passed Away....Or Not....

You would not believe what Friday held for me.

Jodie came and took me for a burger at lunch time. I was surprised to see her walk back in my office barely an hour later. I could see the distress in her eyes. I asked, "what's the matter?" She took my hands in hers, and said "honey, I'm sorry, but we got a call on the answering machine...your mom has passed away."

I've shared some of my "stuff" with my mom but despite that and the fact we have been pretty much estranged for the last few years, of course I promptly fell apart.

Jodie drove me home. I cried and cried. She put me to bed and quietly went out to listen to the message again to see if she could get more details. She returned shortly with a look of horror and said, "uh Lisa....uh...your mom's name isn't Carol is it? Uh....I don't think it's your mom who has died."

It wasn't my mom, but my first dance instructor and mentor Carol. Her daughter had left a tear-filled message on the answering machine and indeed it had sounded like someone was saying "your mom has died", but in reality, she was sharing that HER mom had died.

While before I had been sobbing, now I couldn't stop laughing. Not that Carol was dead, by any means, but because of the absurdity of the whole thing. I had left work early, in tears because my mother had died. Jodie and Kayla had called into work, because my mother had died.

Uh...but my mother wasn't dead. Jodie called back to work in embarrassment and explained the situation, saying she would be in soon. I called in to work and explained, but said I was "done" for the day and no way was I coming back, which my coworkers were fine with.

Jodie headed for work...and her car died half way there. My car, of course, was still at my work, because Jodie had picked me up...you know...cause my mom had died and she didn't want me driving. Jodie and Kayla pushed the car home several blocks, I got a friend to come get me and retrieve my car. Jodie made it to work only three hours late, only. This, the day after they had laid many people off due to slowness of business...and she is three hours late the next day. Yippee skippeee.

I settled down and opened my mail. To discover I have been summoned for Jury Duty.

Now I ask you, could I have had a worse day? oy vey.

Due to the confusion over who was dead, it didn't really sink in to me that Carol was gone until last night. She changed my life in many ways and I will miss her. Last night and today have been really teary.

Knitting:
Yes, I actually did knit during all of this. Only reason I'm still somewhat sane, I'm sure. I've gotten several more repeats of Branching Out done, and two more repeats on The Braids Cardigan. It takes me 15 minutes (if undistracted) to get through a row on The Braids. I'm probably close to 7 inches done of the 13 inches I need before starting the armholes. Trying not to be daunted by the amount of time that equals, just working on it when I can and trying to enjoy the process. I do love the wool, Paton's Classic...just love the feel and weight of it.

Here's to you Carol....you brought me out of my shell, and gave me wings. Thank you.