Dear_Sis@the_end_of_my_day.calm©
Two sisters and
their friends, share the joys of Larchmont motherhood
through E-mail.
by
Val Estabrook
 Date: 1/30/03
To: Val
From:Kim
Subject: Don't you just love it when your house floods?
New
Year’s Eve day…I’m at the kitchen
table addressing Christmas cards now disguising themselves
as New Year cards…don’t want to embarrass
myself by getting them out in 2003… must have
a 2002 postmark.
Just 5 hours to go before last mailbox
pickup of the year. But still can’t stop myself
from writing a little something in each card to give
it that “these cards are late because I took
time to personalize them” look.
I focus as only
we moms can focus on a task that must be done…NOW.
Ignore dishes in the sink, laundry piled on the floor,
kids begging for lunch, and my feet sitting in a puddle
under the table.
10-year-old Annie screams from upstairs “Mom,
what’s with the water.” “Not now,” I
yell, “only have 150 cards left and three hours
to go.” Can’t break my momentum.
“Mom!”
“O.K.,
O.K”. I look up “Gee, my floors are looking
particularly glossy” I think…no they’re
shimmering. Waves are breaking at my ankles.
“Get
Dad on the phone” I scream as I surf out the
front door in search of the water turn off valve.
I
struggle with the stuck valve. 13-year-old Kelly reaches
down and turns it off. Note to self: start working
out.
“Got to get back to my cards,” I mutter
as I wade back into what’s now a lake home.
“Mom,
STOP!” Kelly yells. “What, what?” I
ask. Oh yeah, the flood. Must clean up. “We’ve
got to make this fast girls, two hours to mail pick
up!”
Husband Dennis arrives home with phone in
hand calling plumber and insurance. One hour to mail
pick up. I slosh through a remaining puddle and start
licking envelopes. “Could you not do that, please, ” Dennis
asks calmly.
“What? I’ve got a deadline,” I
say, thinking he doesn’t understand my urgency.
“You’re
going to cut your tongue, use a sponge.” he advises.
I’m impressed. He didn’t question my addressing
Christmas cards in the middle of a flood. He understands
my neurotic behavior. Or maybe after 25 years of marriage,
he knows not to mess with a wife on a mission.
10 minutes
to pick up. I screech out of the driveway with my cards,
barely missing the plumbers pulling up. Kelly is putting
on last few stamps as we pull up to the box. Made it!
I feel complete as we drive home. My task is done and
I’ve passed a valuable lesson on to my daughters:
get the cards out no matter how painful it is, no matter
how late it is, no matter what the disaster. It’s
tradition.
__________________________________________________________________
Tradition. It's what keeps
my family going..until it drives us all crazy. Tell
me about some of your
traditions by clicking on this link: Val@larchmontgazette.com.
An e-mail form will pop right up. My
next Dear Sis column will share some
of the funny comments and stories my readers have
sent to me through e-mail.
XO Val
Contributing writer in today's
column: Kim McCarthy is a journalist, professional
portrait photographer and mother of three beautiful
girls.
Val and Kim Illustrations by Larchmont artist
Sue Girardi. "Ann" courtesy of Snobhollow.net "Barbara"
from : www.acn.net.au/ebusiness/
manual/chapter6.htm
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