Breakfast

According to the heading of this blog, the purpose of its creation is to "highlight [the] wonderful characteristics, loving acts of kindness, example of faith and wisdom, and above all......the quirky things [Lena and Linda] do that make us laugh!" I was immediately inspired to write about Mom's dedicated kindness and service basically every morning of my life. It's called breakfast.... or shall I say "breafkast".

For any of our unfamiliar readers- if you listen closely to my mother's pronunciation of "breakfast", you will find that she actually demonstrates a singular instance of dyslexia and switches the "k" and "f" sounds in the word. To be honest, I don't think I myself ever actually noticed the oddity until it was pointed out to me by my ore observant cousins.

But whether you pronounce it breakfast, breafkast, makan pagi, desayuno, micul dejun, فطور or anything else, one thing is for sure: my mom makes some awesome breafkast meals. Even if you (the reader) can get by in the morning with just a piece of toast, or a glass of milk, or nothing at all- you would either have to (1) be crazy, (2) have burned off all of your taste buds recently by drinking hot chocolate before it cools down, or (3) not have a tongue at all (maybe it was chopped off for lying or you bit it off in a boxing match?) in order to not like my mom's cooking. French toast is one dish that I may consider one of her breafkast masterpieces (especially when combined with peanut butter and syrup). But her breafkast skills are not limited to just that- pancakes, waffles, egg burritos, bacon, egg sandwiches, quiche, omelet, sausage, hash browns, potato cubes, .... and the list goes on! Which list reminds me- I haven't had her orange julius in a number of years! So Mom, be prepared to dust off that old skill of yours for next time we're together!

In addition to her spectacular breafkast making skills- Mom is also a champion when it comes to consistancy. I have recently learned that many mothers don't make their children breafkast ever (or sometimes any other meal for that matter). My amazing mother however, would make at least something- as simple as a bowl of oatmeal or cream cheese bagel to a superior version of the Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast Meal- basically every day of my life at home. It didn't matter whether I slept in til 10 or 11 after a long Friday night with friends, woke up at 5:30 for seminary, or even earlier for a special scouting camp trip or other activity- we had something to fill our bellies til lunch time.

So, while we may chuckle and get a kick out of Mom's unique pronunciation of breafkast... we will never forget the thousands of meals she has so generously provided to her husband and children over the past decades and the many more still to come. Perhaps we, in honor of the master provider of that great morning meal, should follow her example and call it breafkast as well.

Mind the Gap

One of the necessary skills that I learned within my home was to 'mind the gap'. Most people will probably associate the phrase with London subways. While standing on the platform, the repetitive reminder to not get stuck in the hole between the platform and the train is constantly ringing in your ears. Obviously, in my home we don't have a train cruising through, but there certainly is a gap to be minded: a gap between the spoken word and the completed action. Before you jump to harsh conclusions thinking that my mother never goes through with her word, let me illustrate through story the harmless, loving quirk that she lovingly shares with those who mean the most to her. I was working alongside my mother in the kitchen performing a list of tasks that had been given to me. I turned to her for her approval on a mixing job that I had completed. She took one look at it and responded "yeah that looks good." As she finished off her sentence, she simultaneously picked up the spoon and continued stirring! Oh Lena! It seems like her mind is like the London subway. She says to herself that she will get on the next train but in reality she remains planted on the platform as the train takes its departure. Carrying into the darkness those who bridged the gap but didn't mind her gap.

The Waving Weep

As the instigator of the blog I will take the opportunity to open this blog with its first entry. Unfortunately, words cannot accurately express each detail of this endearing quirk of our mother, but I have chosen to coin it "the waving weep." You see my mother is very senstive to the spirit, it has always been astonishing to me how clearly it speaks to her and gives her guidance and strength. Unfortunately, for her, this also makes her rather prone to uncontrollable tears. As children this gave us a wonderful opportunity. Each chance to speak in church, to bear testimony or to share personal feelings was an opportunity to try to get our mother to cry... it might be embarrassing to admit but it kind of became a game, trying to get mom to cry. The reason is the quirk...it just gives us a kick. When our mother starts to cry, especially when it is associated with joy and happiness, with warm fuzzies, with the growth and success of her children she performs the "waving weep." This consists of a cute little face that is trying to laugh and frown at the same time, it causes her mouth in the middle to smile but the corners to bend down in an attempt to frown. You can see joy in her eyes, but it looks like it kind of hurts...in a good way. As the tears begin to peak she tries to hide them. If at the right moment you look over at her and she sees you looking she will pull her hand up to her face and flick her wrist to signify to you to stop looking, this is in fact the "weeping wave." It is cute and most endearing but at the same time absolutely hilarious.
If you might permit me to share a short story that she told us. She was on a plane ride and was watching Marley and Me. To be honest I don't remember much about the movie except that the dog dies eventually (sorry if that is a spoiler for any of you). Once again our mother's tender side began to show. She began to sniffle but at the same time noticed that the lady next to her began to sniffle. As she turned to look their eyes met and both were in fact weeping. In an attempt to turn the other away, both women performed the "weeping wave" and proceeded to burst into laughter which only led to additional weeping.Oh Lena! As the stewardess walked by she noticed, recieved a couple "weeping waves" and returned with a few tissues for the marvelous women!
This is just an example of our mother's ability to connect with other people on an intimate level, even if they are strangers! The joy and love that is spread by a simple "weeping wave."
Thank you Mom for making this world a better place!