Mother’s Day

Dear Liza,

This past Sunday was Mother’s Day. My Momma Billie and Grandpa Nelson’s Mother Mona have passed away, and Auntie Bridgett’s Mom Donna is in San Diego. Since I didn’t have any mother’s to honor here, I decided to BE the Momma and go help Auntie Katie with her new shop.

First, of course, was breakfast. I met Katie and cousins Jasper and Kestrel at Genie’s, a friendly, delicious diner just a few blocks away. Kestrel and I read together and Jasper and Katie had fun being silly. Katie gave me a card that she wrote and Kestrel made (it was beautiful) and Jasper gave me a coaster he had decorated. It was beautiful AND useful.

Then the cousins headed off with their Dad Dave and Katie and I headed to her new building. We spend a few hours sweating and prying and hammering, taking down a plywood panel that was covering a back door, so she could use the door. It will allow her and the kids to go upstairs to the apartment without having to go through the book shop.

After we declared victory over the door, Katie’s friend Patrick and his son Arlo came to help. Patrick ripped out an old bookcase and Arlo removed random screws and nails from the walls with his power drill.

I hauled wood out to a pile in the backyard as Katie started working on removing a heater…. but had to stop when she realized she needed more electrical expertise. Sparks are a very good reality check!

We all ate a bunch of Snickerdoodles I had brought and then Katie walked me home. It was a perfect Mother’s Day, spent with a Mother I respect and doing that work MY mother would respect.