Tuesday, May 18, 2010

My Momo

Well I decided to start this blog so I could have something to show my little girl, Alice, someday when she grows up. In the 5 months I’ve been pregnant with her, there have been so many funny, emotional and memorable moments. I just want to make sure my little lady knows about this adventure and knows about how excited we are about her. While there will be many funny stories to come about this whole parenting adventure, in sticking with the theme of “things I want my little girl to know” I wanted to start this blog by talking about Alice’s fabulous great-grandmother, Alice (her namesake). “Momo” passed away last week on Mother’s Day (I like to think she was itching to spend Mother’s Day with her mommy). Momo was beyond fabulous. I was lucky to have the 30 years with her that I did and in all of those 30 years she never failed to make me laugh, make me feel loved and bring the fun to the party. Like I said at some point, I want to be like Momo when I grow up. I also want my little Alice to know all about her great-grandmommy. While it would take 30 years to list and talk about all the things that made her wonderful, here are just a few things that I want Alice to know about Momo:

-She was by far one of the smartest gals I’ve ever met. She did crossword puzzles in pen. Bad ass. (Yes, Alice..that’s a bad word, you aren’t allowed to say that)

-She was HILARIOUS. She entertained all of us like no TV show, movie or stand-up comedian ever could. She loved a good joke. The raunchier the better. As we realized this past week, the older we got, the funnier she got. Not because she jazzed up her material but because we finally understood all the fantastically filthy jokes she’d been telling for years.

-She did not give a rip about what people thought. How liberating! She would wear whatever she wanted (the hot pink leather ankle length coat for example), say whatever she wanted, do whatever she wanted, etc. etc. etc. All while able to maintain her class, manners, dignity and morals. What a gift.

- She had thoughts and opinions on everything. Most 89 year old grandmommies probably don’t sit around the dinner table debating politics, economics or current affairs. I would always love listening to her and my dad debate about this and that. Who needs CNN when you could hear the latest and greatest at Christmas dinner?

-She loved to have fun. She really did live life to the fullest. Besides being funny, she was just fun. She would stay up late with us and play games every time we were all together, sneak us junk food when we were little, treat herself to little baubles and fancy perfume, have cookies for dinner, surround herself with funny pictures and quotes, the list goes on and on. She was always the life of the party and everyday with Momo was a party.

-She loved her family. She loved my granddaddy, Deedee. She never did care to date or remarry after he passed away. As I heard for the first time last week, she told someone once that “all a man wanted at her age was a nurse and a purse”. Right on. She loved her kids, her grandkids and her great-grandkids. Last week we found some letters she had saved from when my dad was at Ft. Polk in 1970. They were tucked in a drawer alongside her fanciest scarves. We also found some pictures my brother, my sister and I painted when we were little bitty. They were tucked away for safekeeping, too. Family mattered most to her and we were thought of first in everything she did. Even before she passed away, she needed to make sure we were all gonna be ok. Bless her heart.

If my sweet little Alice is even one tiny bit like her namesake, Joey and I are gonna have our hands full! But I can’t wait. I hope she’s just like her. Momo told me once that I “always marched to the beat of a different drummer”. At the time I thought she was politely telling me that I’d always been weird, but now I think I kinda like that description. Momo certainly marched to the beat of a different drummer and I hope my little girl does, too.