A Mother's Day Memory

I am not what most people would consider a morning person. This has been true as far back as I can remember. For example, there were days when my step-dad would wake me up for school somewhere around 3rd grade, and I would blatantly ignore him. He'd tell me to get up, and I'd either lie as still as possible, trying to stay asleep, or just say "okay" and go back to sleep as soon as he left.

It rarely matters when I go to bed. Morning always comes as a harsh surprise. At some point, both of my parents ended up working at Toyota, which meant that neither of them were around to make sure I was awake for school in the mornings. This posed a particular problem for me, having relied for years on someone continuously checking on me as my mind kept sliding back down the slippery slope of my dreams each morning.

To combat this, my mother bought me an alarm clock that would play a cassette tape instead of music or buzzing. She recorded herself yelling at me to get. It started off mildly, with her simply telling me that it was time to wake up. But it lasted probably 10 minutes, and by the end she was definitely getting upset. So even though I woke up each morning with my little brother gone to school, and my parents gone to work, I woke to my mother's voice.

Perhaps, considering my continual reliance on the snooze button, and DS for getting up at a decent hour, this was not my mother's best decision ever. Regardless, I remember this fondly, and will be forever grateful for this and all the other things she's ever done for me.

I love you Mom!