Shopping With My Mother

Last Tuesday I went shopping - ok nothing so special about that so far, I asked for a car park and was directed towards one. I thought this was a great start.

Then as I walked towards the shopping mall I felt someone with me, it was a female and she talked to me, used the same tones and called me by the same name my mother does. I haven't shopped with my mother for years (we live in different countries, and i loved going to shopping malls and such with my mother, it was our mother daughter time) - and it was like that, it was like I was going shopping with my mother.

I knew that she had been diagnosed with cancer again so I asked her if she was dead. She said no, smiled (it felt like she was smiling) 'not yet'. At some stage she left, she didn't say good by. I went home and put it down to missing my mother.

The next night i called her, to find out that she had been admitted to hospital and undergone an over extended operation (i'm still not sure of the details, but for some reason it took longer than it was supposed to). She had the operation at what would have been the same time as I 'went shopping' with her. I love my mother very much and that had to be the best gift she could have given me. She is doing well, and i look forward to talking to her soon. :)

- GD, Australia (March 2003)