My mother’s retirement was brought on a year earlier than we all expected. After teaching for 20 years, her breast cancer diagnosis at the end of last school year sped her acquiescence to the inevitable. We talked about the possibility of throwing her a retirement party, but she eventually decided not to involve the family in her celebration. How do children show their mother that she has been a part of something both admirable and laudable, something that the family celebrates, in a way that is substantial?
My great-grandparents owned a mansion in Yakima which has in recent years been converted into a bed-and-breakfast. Not many treasures were harvested from the home after the death of my great-grandmother Blanche Derby. However, my parents ended up with a prized porch-swing: a blue fabric wrapped, wood and steel framed, steel spring cushioned, six-by-two foot, hanging lounger. In the tradition of the “they don’t build things like they used to,” the blue beast has been overused, and is as tattered as any toddler’s favorite blanket.
Shortly after returning home from Europe, my older sister Kara called me with a proposition. Would I like to build a porch-swing for our mother if Kara were to pick up the tab on materials? I thought it was a very good idea, after perusing some porch-swing web sites, I had a rough idea for what it might look like…
albaniacalling 