Memories

My mother (89) and I had a chuckle yesterday
"It must have been crazy to try to
balance all Christmas things out for 22 people!"
"Seriously, I don't remember".

My mother does not remember much of our childhood.
No clear remembrance of any firsts except my oldest brother.

We all played tennis and swam, but there is no memory of meets, or games
or even sitting at the softball stadium all day, ever other day, in the heat of the summer
while each of us played in our own leagues.
Confirmations, even baptisms - five children in ten years.
It is all a blur.

She does not remember details after her father died when she was in high school
when the household went into poverty for a bit.
She does remember that she shared the wedding dress
with her two older sisters
but I had to explain why.

But there are things she does remember:
Her year as a clerk at the local hospital
Her year at college
Her time as the Vice President of the Junior League.
Her taking the trolly to school in downtown Phoenix.

The mind is an amazing thing, isn't it?
My mom can argue politics until she is purple
she keeps up with technology
she gets upset when her books don't balance.

Still, the memories that I treasure most in my mind
Are gone.
Mom has been older for a long time,
she hit elderly about three years ago...
and with that, only clearly happy memories come through.

It makes me ponder,
what will I remember?