Athena

The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has happened. ~ Peter Berger

My mom's family and early life are as much a mystery as my father's. There are 7 (I think) siblings, of which I have met only one. I liked him, though. When I was three, he took me for a ride on his motorcycle. That clinched it for me, apparently. Well, that and the fact that he never tried to sexually abuse me like the othe uncle I knew. I only met my maternal grandmother and grandfather once in my life and I don't even remember it because it was during one of those times in my life when holding onto sanity was pretty much the only thing I could focus on.

Neither my mom nor her older sister lived with their mom and dad for much of their lives. My mother was shipped off to live with her grandmother until she died when my mom was 14. I think she was around 5 when she stopped living with her family. Mother's sister lived with an aunt and I know even less about that than I do about my mom.

My great grandmother's name was Mamie. She required all of her grandchildren to call her by her name. I think that's just charming and so very southern. My mother was assigned chores to do, for which she earned a small allowance. None of her brothers and sisters had an allowance. Mamie made my mother attend church every Wednesday and Sunday. That included Sunday school. My mom has had very little inclination to show up at any churches since then. She really hates it when people get wrapped up in their religion or when they have a penchant for proselytizing. That caused some friction between my mother and one of my paternal aunts, who converted to Jehovah Witness-dom. It became apparent pretty quickly that my aunt's interest in the Witnesses was more opportunistic and self-serving than a spiritual calling. That's another story.

My mother took care of Mamie after she was diagnosed with cancer and, when she died, my mother was inconsolable. After that, she moved back in with mom and dad.

I know my maternal grandmother was a redhead with the proverbial fiery temper. She wasn't a very good cook. My grandfather was a butcher and an alcoholic. My mother has never used that word, but she said that her dad would come home from work and sit at the kitchen table, drinking all evening. Sounds like an alcoholic to me. She didn't get along with her dad. I have no details regarding why or when things went bad between them.

That's pretty much the sum total of all I know about my mother's history. I think I'm the least informed about family matters of anyone I know. I don't exactly know why that's so. With my dad's family, you could get stories, but it was anybody's guess as to whether the stories were true. They most definitely would be contradicted by other members of the family. I just always chalked it up to psychosis, but I think they were just a narcissistic and self-serving lot. I've asked my mom to tell me about her life numerous times, but these several paragraphs are the only information I've been able to cull.

I think my mother was probably sexually abused by someone. Why? Because she refused to let go of my dad when anyone in their right minds would have left him or killed him. There are other reasons why I think she was abused, but I'm not really comfortable with relating them.

Is it any wonder that I used to imagine myself to be like Athena, sprung from my parents thoughts instead of their loins. They made me up in their heads and it took more than twenty years for me to discern who I might be as an individual.

America held hostage day 1308
Bushism of the day:
"I used the expression 'ride herd.' I don't know if anybody understood the meaning. It's a little informal in diplomatic terms. I said, we're going to put a guy on the ground to ride herd on the process. See them all scratching their heads."
—Bush, realizing few people understand him when he speaks
Source: New York Times, "The President's Trip, In the President's Words: 'A Mutual Desire to Work Toward the Vision," June 5, 2003

Website of the day: Test Your Moral Intuitions
http://wjh1.wjh.harvard.edu/~moral/test.html