Jill's Journal: The hot flasher and the senior citizen
By:
Jill Meier, Journal editor
My mother and I have come to the conclusion that we could not live under the same roof.
Sounds like an odd thing to say, since she was the one who gave me life, not to mention, we lived under the same roof for the first 18 years of my life and all seemed to go well then.
But yep, that’s what we discovered last weekend in the heart of our summertime heat.
A wedding in the family had me packing my bags and heading to mom’s home. With the temperatures darting into the 90s, then throw in high humidity, dew points and the heat index, that’s an ugly mix for a gal whose body temperatures are all over the place these days.
Those unwelcome in my world weather conditions – humidity, dew points and heat indexes – don’t seem to faze mom much.
“I’m comfortable,” I’ve heard her say multiple times in recent years.
With sweat evident on my forehead and neckline, “I’m not,” I blast back, trying to reason she can throw a lap blanket on or grab a light sweater.
We had this very conversation several times over the weekend. I turn the central air dial down a few notches and she turns it back up. It’s like she has thermostat radar or something.
We go through a similar scenario in the wintertime, too. She likes a warm house. I do, too, but not always to the extent of warmth she prefers.
While we can’t always agree on just-the-right temperature in her home, thankfully, our vehicles feature temperature gauges to accommodate both the driver and the passenger.
On Saturday, mine was set at a comfortable 67 degrees. Hers was not.
So I guess, if mom and I are ever to live together again, the hot flasher and the senior citizen may have to go mobile to do so.
Speaking of mom, I nabbed this from somewhere to share with you:
Things my mother taught me …
My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done. “If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”
My mother taught me religion. “You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
My mother taught me about time travel. “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
My mother taught me logic. “Because I said so, that’s why.”
My mother taught me more logic. “If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, don’t come crying to me.”
My mother taught me foresight. “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
My mother taught me irony. “Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
