That Old Lady??

Today was so hot, and the house wouldn't cool off, so I loaded my crew into the car along with bathing suits and towels, and we all headed for son Max's lake house.  One of the nicer things about being an older mother is that as your children grow up, they get drivers licenses.   I settled in the back seat with my crochet basket and a new book, and leisurely rode along like gentry with my 16 year old son Beau as chauffer.
Once there, Mary Susannah opted for a nap and Beau wanted to kayak, so just the three younger kids and I head off for the swimming spot at the Navaro Mills lake.  It had rained hard there a couple of days ago, and the water was really high, which meant there was a nice gravel spot at the edge of the water, instead of the mud I usually end up sitting in during the hot Texas summers.  The rain made the water cold, too, so I stayed at the shore instead of venturing out and risking hypothermia.  It didn't bother the kids a bit though - maybe their skin is thicker than mine?  Anyway, I had a lot of fun just watching...

It wasn't long before Angel-Leah saw a little girl about her age, and she went off to make a new friend.  She played for a little while, then came back to me.  She wasn't going to play with that little girl anymore, she informed me.  When I asked why, she said the little girl wanted her to go out further than I had given Angel-Leah permission to go, and when she told her that her mother said she couldn't go that far, the little girl wanted to know who her mother was.  Angel-Leah said she pointed me out.  Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered "And when I told her you were my mother, she said 'that old lady?!?'"

What???  Well!  Old lady, huh?

I settled myself firmly under the dark cloud forming over my head, complete with thunder and lightening bolts.  I looked over at the mother of this astute girl.  Yes, she was quite a bit younger than me, probably not even thirty yet.  But as I surveyed her, I uncharitably noticed I was at least thirty pounds lighter than she was.  Then I sighed, and realized that while she could diet and lose her excess weight, "how can a man (or woman) go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" as Nicodemus asked Jesus.  She could always become thinner than me, but I could never become younger than her.  Besides, skinny on an old lady doesn't look svelte, it just looks scrawny...

I looked around the lake and saw two other ladies there about my age.  One of them had been talking to me, and had even asked me if "all those children" (goodness, there were only three) were mine?  Now that innocent question took on a whole new meaning.  This lady was there with her grandchildren.  Was she thinking my children were my grandchildren, too?  And great, the other lady my age was there with two grandchildren too...

Then I looked at my daughter, the bearer of such unhappy news:

She's awfully pretty, I thought.  I'm really blessed to have her.

And yeah, I may be an old lady, but I'm also the mother of a two year old, and he's pretty cute, too:

And one of the perks of being an old lady mother, besides having handsome sixteen year old sons who can drive, like Beau:

is that I also have a son, Max, who owns a lakehouse that I can go to whenever I want:

Now that's a picture taken when Max first got the house.  It's been fixed up a LOT since then, new porches, flowers, deck redone and a nice gravel yard put in.  I'll have to take a before and after picture.

Anyway, it wasn't long before the dark cloud above my head lifted.  Yeah, Angel-Leah has an old lady for a mother.  But hey, this old lady has Angel-Leah for a daughter.  And Tommy.  And Luke.  And Mary Susannah.  And Rachael, Celeste, Gage, Max, Spencer and Beau, too!  God has blessed me ten times - what a lucky old lady I am!

So hours later, after daddy Bill had brought hot dogs, and we had grilled and eaten (with Tommy having Burgundy Beef's all natural beef hot dogs, another perk of having Max for a son, since he works there and gets a discount) I loaded up the three little ones in the car again and headed for home, leaving the older kids to spend the night at the lake house with dad.  I thought about staying, but old ladies do better in their own soft beds - especially if they have a two year old who does better in his own soft bed, too.  As we drove home in the dark, I heard a baby voice ask:  "Momma, you got my baby loot?"  Which, interperted means:  "Dear elderly Mother, in your advanced, senile state, did you happen to remember to get my brand new bathing suit, of which I am quite fond?"

Yeah, I remembered the baby loot.  And I remembered my way home, too, even in the dark.  And now, this old lady will go to bed and count her blessings instead of sheep.

Psalm 127:3  "Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from him"

And they keep old ladies young!