grace

early memories of following her around the house
watering plants
tidying up
typing at the kitchen table
writing letters

sometimes she would take me to work with her
I sat in her office making bracelets from yarn
reading the poster on the wall with the funny animal that said
“never be ashamed of what you are
by the way...what are you?”

baking Christmas cookies in the warm kitchen
mixing colored icings
sprinkles and red hots for decoration

learning the precise way to measure vanilla extract
(with the cap)

the red and white kitchen table
the opening theme to All Things Considered on the radio
colored glass mixing bowls
(mix dough in the big yellow one
icing in the smallest blue one)

dark chocolate birthday cakes with blue or green icing
and parties at the zoo

we drove to Pennsylvania
on a hot, hot day
to see her sister get married
we pulled our skirts up our thighs in the car
to cool our legs
and when the brand new map book got sucked out the window
she didn't get mad

other hot days swimming at Trout Pond
and lying on a towel on the beach
with sandy feet
and a badminton net set up in the woods of West Virginia

we went to the mall for haircuts and new clothes
there were long car trips to and from college
in the white Jeep Cherokee
talking and talking
about everything

she sent long letters and clippings
long distance phone calls
when I was lonely

we went to the Cathedral Of Mary Our Queen
to hear the pipe organ
and downtown for Handel's Messiah
and walked to Eddie's grocery store

we cried at movies together
went to Washington to meet Merlin Tuttle
and pet a fruit bat
jogged through the Johns Hopkins campus
but she could always go farther than me

Nebraska and Florida
New Hampshire and Maryland's Eastern Shore
New Jersey, New York

a lifetime of memories
comfort, music, words
hugs and iced sugar cookies

I love you Momma