Thought provoking words by "best friend Gayle"

I'm not a big Gayle fan. I feel like she holds on to Oprah's tail feathers and somehow thinks she is just about as important as she is.
Which is silly really, because really, why should I honestly care about Gayle.
But still, she gets under my skin.

She was on Rachel Ray the other day. (Whom I still really can't stand. But for some reason, even though I hardly EVER watch TV during the day, I find myself watching 10-15 minutes of her every other week or so)

I was watching, irritated at her until she said something that had the most truth that I could ever believe.
She was talking about her mom who passed away in 1994.
She said the thing she misses the most about not having a mom is not having someone who really truly wants to hear about every small detail of your life. And not just pretending to be interested, but really truly IS interested in everything about you.

This is SO true about my relationship with my mom.
It's incredible how much my mom can listen, offer advice when warranted but in the same token, keep it to her self when she knows that is the right thing to do.
She gets excited about things that don't even affect her, but they affect me, therefor they make her happy.
She listens to stories about neighbors, friends, business, beauty, my kids of course, cooking stories and stories just about nothing.
She's ALWAYS there to lend an ear.

Sometimes I think I'm the luckiest person in the world to have such a great mom.
I can only hope that someday my kids think of me as that person who wants to know everything, because I know I will. But then again, they are boys, and it just isn't the same.

But that is why it's so hard to see her suffer.
If you had to imagine the nicest person, my mom would be it.
My dad told me that about a week ago she saw a man holding a 'will work for food' sign and she begged him to turn around so she could give him $10 for lunch.
That's just the kind of person she is.
She'll engage in conversation with the grocery store clerk, the bank clerk, and any receptionist. She'll buy cookies or wrapping paper from any child who rings her doorbell.
She never talks bad about anyone.
If she had $6 to her name and some little child needed it, she'd hand it over without a second thought.

But don't think I always thought of her this way. Of course I didn't. It's that age old, 'you respect your mother a million times more when you have kids of your own'.
Amen to that.

My mom hasn't been able to bear any weight on her leg yet, but she has sat in a chair on 2 occasions already. They were hoping to have some progress in the weight bearing issue, but she's not ready. The longer she waits, the harder it will be.
By the end of the week, she'll be in a rehab center (a better term than nursing home) for an undetermined amount of time until she can become more independent.
Sucks.