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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Rebecca

Why this Blog - The Long Umbilical Cord

“You have the longest uncut umbilical cord in history.’’ So I was told. The remark stung. My absorption in my mother did become more intense after the death of my husband Allen in December of 1986. I sought solace in thoughts of my mother. I had always been more involved in my mother’s stories. Maybe it was because I was the youngest of four. By the time my siblings had left home my mother had more time for me and I was an eager audience. I remember being very attached to my mother as a young child, clinging, shy, hiding behind the skirts of a lively, vivacious, intelligent, beautiful woman. I was not beautiful but I never resented my mother’s beauty. Rebecca Goethe’s story, her growing up as a ward of France, the romance of an American soldier and his French peasant maiden were the stuff of folklore and it was my link to a far away country and romance. I idealized and surely romanticized the tales my mother told. After many years the sting of the remark no longer bites. Rather, the long umbilical cord nourishes and sustains the richness of the connection and has served me well and motivates me to extend the cord to the future with the richness of my mother’s life and her stories.



1 comment:

Tutusaurus said...

Really! Who would have said such a thing? You have a nourishing mother (still yet!) and I can only assume the speaker might have been a bit envious. Thank you for sharing your mother with us.

Actually, I am amazed at how many women need an "assistant" mother. Remedial mothering is so needed.

You have been blessed and are doubly blessed to appreciate it!