http://www.thisiswhoiam.org/articles/2008/08/13/i-love-my-mother-but-i-swear-she-will-be-the-death-of-me en-us 40 <p>I&#8217;m sitting at my computer, head aching as I plod through the piles of work all over my desk. The fall semester starts in two weeks. Orientation is next week. I&#8217;m busy.</p> <p>My cell phone vibrates in my pocket. I look at the screen. Mom.</p> <p>I&#8217;m ignoring the call, thinking I can return her call when I get home.</p> <p>Then I get a single vibration. A message alert. She left a voice mail. It&#8217;s important.</p> <p>I&#8217;m listening to the message. &#8220;Rebecca, this is your mother. Call home as quickly as possible.&#8221;</p> <p>My blood pressure rises, my pulse quickens, and a thousand million bad thoughts rush though my head. Is something wrong with dad? Is my brother ok? What about his wife? Their kids? What happened? Did my dog finally die?</p> <p>So I call home. My mother relays this <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-bill-gwatney-shot-080813-ht,0,6306572.story">breaking news</a>.</p> <p>My mother&#8217;s urgency is due to the fact that, and I quote my dear mom, &#8220;The democratic chairman was the younger son of the brother of the father of the neighbor boy you grew up with.&#8221;</p> <p>O.</p> <p>K.</p> <p>Glad I about had a heart attack over the crazed shooting of someone I never met before in my life. Not to trivialize the seriousness of this incident or the value of a human&#8217;s life, but seriously. Not the kind of scare I need right now, or ever, really.</p> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:24:00 -0500 urn:uuid:1d373b94-74d7-481f-bcd1-ef1451b503cf Rebecca http://www.thisiswhoiam.org/articles/2008/08/13/i-love-my-mother-but-i-swear-she-will-be-the-death-of-me Various and Sundry <p>My mom does that TOO and it drives. me. crazy. I'm too young to have a heart attack!</p> Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:43:52 -0500 urn:uuid:8f4dd9f6-1d29-433f-b538-ad95a7c5042b http://www.thisiswhoiam.org/articles/2008/08/13/i-love-my-mother-but-i-swear-she-will-be-the-death-of-me#comment-219 <p>Mom's are like that and mine does not understand even when I tried to explain once why that kind of thing is not an emergency. They are just like that. <em>Smiles</em></p> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:24:55 -0500 urn:uuid:1caaf358-fb76-4197-932f-78d97c26f5bd http://www.thisiswhoiam.org/articles/2008/08/13/i-love-my-mother-but-i-swear-she-will-be-the-death-of-me#comment-217