A fond memory, in a twisted sort of way, is the time my
mother chased Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland because he wouldn’t take a picture
with my younger daughter. The woman escorting him said he was late for a show,
but that didn’t stop my mother from swinging her big bag at his head and
yelling, “You ridiculous, ineffectual lump! My granddaughter wants a PHOTO with YOU!” I know from whom I inherited my colorful vocabulary. I
can’t imagine what would have happened had my Mom actually made contact with the
ducking hunk of fluff. Perhaps Disney police in the guise of Brutus would have
swept poor Mama off and handcuffed her to the slate wall of Snow White’s palace.
Moral of that story: Don’t mess with my mother’s children or grandchildren or
any blood relative! I love that about her. My mother is passionate and expressive.
There is nothing passive-aggressive about her. You know where you stand. And as
a side note, we always felt safe around her. Evidently, she reserved her physical
aggression for imposter Disney characters. She is equally loving and brilliant; a perfect nurturer.
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| Mama with my niece and nephew |
I was thinking about an irony of our culture: that if
someone shows sadness or anger they are considered “unstable,” but when we
repress emotions, a whole gamut of physical stress related conditions manifest,
including chronic (particularly back) pain issues, fibromyalgia, depression,
bursitis, arthritis, TMJ, IBT, eczema, tennis elbow, tendonitis, carpal tunnel
syndrome, sexual dysfunction, Bells Palsy, rheumatoid arthritis and many other
conditions as well as addiction issues. We have been slow to believe the direct mind-body relationship. People
stuff their emotions until feelings burst out inappropriately in a fit of
misdirected rage, and then guilt ensues and nothing has been gained. Feelings
are blamed as too risky. The key is...
