Who our Mother was

On this day after Mothers Day

I remember how a couple of years before mom died

my siblings almost killed her

They hired a cleaning lady

to come once a week to clean my parents’ house

and mom exhausted herself

Moving the refrigerator and furniture to sweep

climbing on a step stool to dust

getting on her hands and knees in the restroom

to scrub before the lady came for her first visit

I called from six states away

mom said she couldn’t let a strange lady

come and find her house was dirty

To save our mother’s life

my siblings let mom clean at her own pace

because that was who our mother was

5-11-20