Number 10

My 10th Mother’s Day was also my 1st double Mother’s Day. In celebration, Oxbear treated me and my “chocolate and vanilla” sons to St. Louis Bread Company for breakfast. We were running late for Sunday School, so he and Puck hustled inside for a box of artichoke soufflés – they were out of bacon and four-cheese – and bagels for the boys.

It’s an age-old tradition on Mom’s side of the family to hit up the Florissant Valley of Flowers parade every first Sunday in May. So after church we took three cars up north. Rose hitched a ride in our Mazda. She had a card to fill out for Mom. She began reading the inside cover.

“I’m going to cross some of this stuff out,” she said.

“What?” Puck asked, sitting next to her.

“Yeah. It says, ‘Because of you, I know that if I put family first, everything good will follow.’ That’s not true.” She pulled out a pen. “I’m going to make it say, ‘Because of you, I know that if I put family first, sometimes good things might follow’. That’s more realistic.”

Puck dropped his head into his hand. “Rose, Rose, Rose,” he said, “that’s just unreasonable.”

“Oh,” Rose went on, scribbling on the bottom of the card, “I’m also going to tell her that I almost got her a Mexican card instead because it would have been funny.”

“Really?” Puck asked, incredulous. “Rose is being too literal.”

Of course Mom loved the card.

What can you say about a parade? It’s not my first choice of entertainment, but it’s a tradition. And St. Louis thrives on tradition. A little sunburn. Some lunch in the grassy alley by Grandma’s apartment. And of course loads of candy tossed out by all the parade floats.

When the circus gypsies clopped-clopped past us on their horses, Carrie-Bri laughed and pointed out the male rider with long curly hair. “Rose, that looks like someone you’d run away with.”

She didn’t exactly deny it.

That was about the time the creepy Italian clown walked over to Grandma and announced, “Look! It’s my girlfriend!”

Anyway… an army of merciful rain-suggestive clouds eventually slid over the sun and reduced the sunburn impact.

When we got home, the main drain backed up over the whole basement.

And that was my 10th Mother’s Day.