WHAT I KNOW ABOUT MY MOTHER

by Graham Guest

(1)        I know she was born on January 19, 1923, and she will die in the Fall of 2008, at eighty-
            five years old.

(2)        I know she was originally from New Jersey, maybe near Teaneck.

(3)        I know there was a black and white photograph taken of her naked on a leopard-skin
            rug in which she looks like a normal baby.

(4)        I know she left New Jersey, alone, when she was quite young.

(5)        I know she was taken in by someone named Red, a woman, out in Portland, Oregon. 
            Red had a son named Stan. Their last name was Amy. My mother, at some point, made
            this last name her first name, and she would come to call Stan her brother.

(6)        I know she was married to someone named James before she met my dad.  James and
            she were divorced, but not before they had a son, Randy. Randy lived with her after the
            divorce but ran away. It was an acrimonious parting and there has never been a
            reconciliation.

(7)        I know she moved to Houston and worked at Sunnyland Furniture until she met my
            dad. They were married in 1963. She then worked part-time as an interior designer.

(8)        I know she and my dad adopted me, privately, soon after my birth in September 1967. 
            I am an only child. She had a live-in governess take care of me during the first five, or
            so, years of my life.

(9)        I know she and my dad have had a visibly rocky marriage, but for my sake, they have
            said, they stayed together.

(10)      I know her motto concerning my professional development was: “Doctor, Lawyer, or
            Failure.”

(11)      I know she began having health problems in 1986, my first semester at college.

(12)      I know she persevered through twenty-two years of health-related traumas and will
            finally succumb to terminal brain disease sometime in the next few days.

(13)      I know she was happy that I got married and finally had a child.

(14)      I know she likes mussels and squab.

Return to table of contents.