I think about these things a lot too (too much most probably) and I had a moment a few months ago when I realised I am almost the age my mum was when she passed. I suddenly realised I couldn't imagine being a woman past 50, and it winded me for a while...
I'm still sitting with this realization, even after several months. I think if anything, these epiphanies may help us realize what we treasure about those we love and about the lives we lead...
Such a beautiful piece! As I get older, I can only hope I’ve inherited every piece of wisdom and every little thing I love about my mother. That’s what I want to keep with me the most.
I think a lot about the passage of time in this way too. My own mother did not live to see me turn 40 and I often wonder how she would have felt about that. I’m childless, but when she was 40, I was already 17. Life, and time, is wild.
I hadn't realized how much I thought of the passage of time, as an adult, by these markers that are both arbitrary and absolutely concrete. Once we start talking about it, thought, it's almost like it gains some concreteness and becomes more light to bear, I believe...
Thank you for writing this essay. My mother died when she was 50 and I was 10; it hit me hard when I lived past her the “second” time. I love what you have to say about heirlooms. In 16th century England the King’s gloves had a similar function of transferring royalty as well as supposedly curing disease (Early Modern English lit PhD here). 😊
Thank you for reading and for leaving your memory here as a comment!
Looking back, I've come to realize that a lot of my academic interest was shaped by the things I liked "in real life," and that a lot of what I thought about in academic settings helped me better understand why that stuff matters!
I think about these things a lot too (too much most probably) and I had a moment a few months ago when I realised I am almost the age my mum was when she passed. I suddenly realised I couldn't imagine being a woman past 50, and it winded me for a while...
I'm still sitting with this realization, even after several months. I think if anything, these epiphanies may help us realize what we treasure about those we love and about the lives we lead...
Such a beautiful piece! As I get older, I can only hope I’ve inherited every piece of wisdom and every little thing I love about my mother. That’s what I want to keep with me the most.
May we be the women our mothers are and also the ones they would have liked to be <3
I think a lot about the passage of time in this way too. My own mother did not live to see me turn 40 and I often wonder how she would have felt about that. I’m childless, but when she was 40, I was already 17. Life, and time, is wild.
I hadn't realized how much I thought of the passage of time, as an adult, by these markers that are both arbitrary and absolutely concrete. Once we start talking about it, thought, it's almost like it gains some concreteness and becomes more light to bear, I believe...
Thank you for writing this essay. My mother died when she was 50 and I was 10; it hit me hard when I lived past her the “second” time. I love what you have to say about heirlooms. In 16th century England the King’s gloves had a similar function of transferring royalty as well as supposedly curing disease (Early Modern English lit PhD here). 😊
Thank you for reading and for leaving your memory here as a comment!
Looking back, I've come to realize that a lot of my academic interest was shaped by the things I liked "in real life," and that a lot of what I thought about in academic settings helped me better understand why that stuff matters!