Happy Mothers Day!

(my favorite photo of my mom)

I've continuously complained about how my mom continues to treat me like an irresponsible incompetent child even though I feel I've done quite a few things that make me resemble an adult such as paying rent on time, learning how to swallow pills, and no longer wetting my bed. Today, though I hate to admit this, she may have been right all along. I applaud my mother for being so patient with me and never taking me to the hills of Thailand and leaving me for the child smugglers like she always threatened she would.

This morning I woke up, once again with a massive hangover, and thought, "Oh fuck, it's Mother's Day. I wanted to get a goddamn massage and now I can't. Thanks, Mom." (I really hope I never have a child like myself). I take a $15 cab ride to Penn Station with seven minutes to spare before my train departs. Penn Station was a fucking nightmare with all the other delinquent children of the world who are rushing home at the last possible minute. The lines for tickets was nearly out to the streets. I have 7 minutes, Do I pee and buy the ticket on the train (eating the $5 surcharge) and skip buying flowers from the flower cart? Or do I buy the ticket now, skip peeing, and skip the flowers? Or do I get the flowers? I got my ticket with a minute to spare so I rushed and picked up a lovely wilting $20 bouquet and was feeling pretty damn proud of myself.

The train was crowded as hell and the moment I sat down with this woman who was seemingly absorbed in her book she looked at me and smiled. "Are you going to see your mom?" Yes. "Oh how nice. Are those flowers for her?" Yes. "Oh aren't those lovely." They're dying. "What stop are you getting off at?" Red Bank. "Oh isn't it just lovely there? It has all those cute little shops right?" It's a pain in the ass getting there. Oh for God's sake lady, I haven't showered, haven't brushed my teeth. Do you really want to be making small talk with me? She changed seats as soon as people started clearing out but when we got to her stop she came by my seat and said in the sweetest little voice, "I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day. Your mom is going to love those flowers." I was so taken aback by her sincerity I was speechless. That is, until I got off at my stop and realized I left the flowers on the train. That bitch cursed me.



I spent the rest of the day at my mom's alternating between eating (curry, lamb, spicy beef, stir fried vegetables, sesame shrimp salad, chicken holapa, and mangoes with sticky rice- my mom is by far the most amazing chef in the world), sleeping, and making awkward small talk while my mom fed, smothered, and nagged me. Some things never change but surprisingly, I had a lovely day. I don't tell my mom often enough but she is by far the most amazing woman I know to have gone through everything that she has and still manage to raise and deal with this devil incarnate of a daughter (who turned out pretty damn near perfect) - No amount of $20 flowers (wherever they may be) would be enough to express how much I love her.