enya and packed lunches

these are the two things that remind me of my mom with such great intensity. she loved enya, and owned at least six or seven of her cd's. it all started with the song 'only time' that somehow ended upon a tv show, and then top 40 radio. so when i was driving her car for a while over break, so many feelings came rushing back. the cd holder is still on the visor and i kept pulling out cd's to see what was there - enya after enya after enya. i guess my dad just listens to the radio. but i popped one in and WOW was i reeled back in time. what a huge wave of nostalgia. i remember the times we would be out driving and laughing as we tried to sing along to the latin or welsh or whatever gibberish she would sing in. orinoco flow was our favorite. i still buy enya's music - there have been two albums released that my mom never had the chance to get. i don't listen to them really, but i figure it would make my mom happy, knowing that i still think about her musical tastes.

then there's the packed lunch. i hated school food, absolutely hated it. and my mom was a health nut, so she was more than happy to pack me a lunch every day for school. every day for a good ten years. yes, my mom still packed my lunch when i was in highschool. she was just that awesome. but she put so much thought and care into it. there was always a sandwich, some sort of fruit, chips, dessert, and usually milk and a little note or piece of candy. in highschool, sometimes i'd sneak up to her classroom and use her microwave to warm up leftovers. but no matter what she had going on in her life, she always found ten minutes to make me a healthy lunch. and looking back, i didn't appreciate it near as much as i should have. she bought my favorite kinds of bread and cheese. she sliced apples for me. she'd pack homemade cookies, not store bought. and sometimes she'd even make chocolate milk. she even remembered a napkin. too many times, i just threw away the things i didn't want. it's probably dumb, but i really regret that. i wish i would have just eaten my grapes and not pawned them off to a friend or thrown them away. so thanks mommy dearest, thanks for packing me a healthy lunch every day. i really appreciate it. and i'll do the same for my kids.