With all the amazing museums and sites to be seen in DC…this old gal was obsessed with the Spy Museum…

Had been there before…years ago…pretty fun and amazing then…but this was the new and improved version of amazing…

Brand new building…intriguing exhibits…and fun interactive technology where participants become a spy…and solve a mystery throughout the tour…

This spy…dubbed Rio Castro…lost her entourage…imagine that…couldn’t physically find them…but could hear them…familiar voices and laughter resonating in the puzzle of a room…

Circle and circle Rio went…walk and look…behind walls…in rooms…in the lavatory…confused…perplexed…her spideysense on vacation…

Finally resorts to the ultimate secret spy gadget…the group text…where are you guys…I can hear you but I can’t find you…

Lady laughter resounds…in the tunnels…they say…indicating a crawling maze of ductwork just overhead…

Mystery solved…but no thanks to the work of Rio Castro…aka Magicalmom…aka better keep her day job…
​
And those spy partners of mine…agree…

When that other daughter of mine was little…

All she ever wanted was a kitty…still wasn’t going to happen…this mom didn’t like cats…especially not in the house…but Someone had other plans…

Farm dog…Eddie…going crazy in the machine shed…lo and behold…hiding under random junk…was a kitten…a teeny tiny little tyke…

Three days of water and food…lots of patience…lots of watching…little kitty emerged…suddenly she was family…

Little Ginger named her Lucy…and declared that she just knew…that God had answered her prayers…
Lucy was an outside cat…loved to cuddle…loved little girls…also loved to sleep in the motor of the van…unbeknownst to Magicalmom…

Who wasn’t so magical…one morning on the way to school…Little Lucy…didn’t even make it to the end of the driveway…

Fast forward years and years…and Someone has answered Ginger’s prayers…once again…Lucky Lennie…looking for love at the shelter…feisty…sassy…cuter than cute…loves to play and cuddle…perfect for that daughter of mine…

And that daughter of mine…

The perfect cat mom…for Lovely Little Lennie…
​
And that family of mine…agrees…

​When that daughter of mine was little…

All she ever wanted was a kitty…wasn’t going to happen…this mom didn’t like cats…especially not in the house…tried to make it up by welcoming a stuffed pet into the family…

Little Beauty went shopping with Grandma…and came home with a surprise for that mother of hers…child eyes wide with anticipation as the gift was unwrapped…

An oversized sweatshirt…popular at the time…embellished with the cutest of cute…and the words…Here’s Lookin at You Kitty…

Beauty loved that sweatshirt…her mom loved it even more…because it was chosen and given with the gracious heart of a five year old…

The gift hung proudly in the closet…25 years…Beauty borrowing it at night…when home for a visit…and so…the gift of all gifts…keeps on giving…passed down a generation…to that daughter of mine…who…funny thing…is now a proud pup mom…

Feelings a little bittersweet…Kitty no longer in the closet…but this mom’s heart warmed with the knowledge that that gift of mine…will be hugging Beauty and her pup…when this old gal’s arms can’t reach…
​
And that Beauty of mine…agrees…

​This old gal…

Was never an athlete…tried basketball in junior high…painful…regretful…never again…

Those daughters of mine…athletes in their own right…all three…runners…baton twirlers…Beauty and Ginger dancers…graceful…lithe…

That middle daughter…though…cut from a different cloth…a true baller…basketball…volleyball…soccer…aggressive…tough…but tiny…

Kind of a scrapper…but with a loud boisterous laugh…and a personality on the court or field…that would amuse any onlooker…

In junior high…dads in the stands…a twinkle in their eye and loving to tease…dubbed her Little Shaq…this over time…morphed into Beast…then Midge the Beast…which stuck…

And now all grown up…those sisters of hers…have refined the nickname to Smidge…

Still a beast…and also a beauty…fighting for good…defending those she works with and for…always having the backs of that mom of hers…Little Ginger…and Beauty…

Smidgethebeast…warming our hearts…holding strong in the subway…making us smile…every day…
​
And those sisters of hers…agree…

This old gal…

Found reprieve from the DC heat…a seemingly mile long escalator ride underground…in the metro…a savvy subway rider this girl is not…had to stand the first trip as all seats were full…no bars open to grip either…so Smidgethebeast held on with two hands…while the rest of our gang…held on to Smidge…

The neon light flashing…tourist…illuminated above the group…physics coming into play…this old gal losing balance and flailing with each acceleration…

Smidge calling out…plant your feet people…plant your feet…I’m losing grip here…

Learning took place…stand in a corner…plant feet firmly…anticipate the rush forward…and if possible….get…a…seat…

All was not won…figuring out the feat of not falling during the ride accomplished…this old gal still had to master the use of the fare card…scan it correctly…the gate opens…

Bumble around and lay the card on wrong…again and again…and you will be left behind…for others to document…
​
And those daughters of mine…agree…

This old gal…

Has jumped on the merry-go-round of analyzing heat…how hot is it today…what kind of heat…hot heat…wet heat…humid heat…dry heat…and around and around it goes…it’s ridiculous really…and doesn’t matter…if it’s hot it’s hot…

Or so this old gal thought…until walking the streets of DC…a jaunt with her ladies to see the sites…it wasn’t Texas heat…or Vegas heat…which put one nail in the coffin…or Iowa heat with stifling humidity…it was torturous heat…never experienced before…

Fill a tank with glue…drop little old me right down in…and tell me to walk…kind of heat…trod…plod…gasp for air…eyes popping out of the head…while city slickers seem to breeze on by…dressed to the hilt…skippety hop…cool…calm…collected…

Try to cool off in an eatery or store…nope…hot in there too…

This old gal played it cool…complaining little…thinking it must be old age intolerance…when those daughters of mine jump on that merry-go-round too…with words like…my legs are done…I’m going to drop…it’s this heat…

And suddenly the ride seemed a little less unbearable…there is strength in numbers…power in togetherness…and just enough umpf in those legs…to drag us back to the bride’s and crank up the air conditioner…
​
And those daughters of mine…agree…

This old gal…

Was blessed with one last sleepover…with her ladies…and woke up early wedding day…ready for the fun to begin…

Headed out for coffee…out of touch Mama thinking hot…those ladies on the search for iced and flavored…

Let the beautifying begin…out of touch Mama…realizing there’s more to glamor than the cosmetics aisle in Target…snail poo eye gel…mini bobby pins…scented eye shadow…oil blotting paper…pimple patches…who knew…

Chatter and laughter fills the room…mini travel mirror gets some action…hair is done…toasts are written…linens are ironed…fancy salads delivered by friends…first experience with quinoa…

Times have changed…yet stay the same…out of touch Mama…is just that…not privy to the influencers and products of today…

But not too out of touch to see…that days like this…are special…and treasured…and will never go out of style…
​
And those ladies of mine…agree…

​This old gal…

Couldn’t help but overhear…a conversation among those daughters of hers at the DC rehearsal supper…about Broccoli Friends…

A broccoli friend…so aptly named…is a friend you can count on to inform you at social gatherings…that a blob of something is stuck in your teeth…saving you the humiliation of grossing people out…while working the room…

That Broccoli Friend of mine…made the observation while we merged on the highway…that he could see a longish black hair…protruding on the upper lip of his beloved…this day was sure to come…as just recently he was regaled with the story of that grandmother of mine…and her granddaughter’s dilemma in how and when to reveal that she had a long random hair…sticking out of her neck…

Be sure to tell me…he was told…if I ever have a whacky hair sticking out…from some random place that I can’t see…but revealing his observation…on the highway…when our day long outing had just begun…was not opportune…

This old gal was distracted…how big was it…how dark…how noticeable…how long has it been there…the old age curse…of random hairs has begun…first the upper lip…then the chin…the nose…maybe even the ears…the possibilities endless…

Don’t worry…Eunice…said my Broccoli Friend…hairs can be plucked…or waxed…

And just like that…my nickname for the day was Eunice…as in hair on the neck Grandma Eunice…that Broccoli Friend of mine thinking he was quite clever…

And in spite of things…
​
His beautiful but hairy bride…had to agree…

This old gal…

Realizes that high school friend drama…is gonna happen...but didn’t realize…that watching those daughters of mine go through it…would be more painful than those days of mine in the 1970s…

These girls…never willing to give up their morals…integrity…or beliefs…to fit in…are now surrounded by friends…of like character…

These friends…such an integral part of this special day…kind…caring…empowered…empathetic…funny…wise…movers and shakers…

Are the types of friends…an old gal…would want for her ladies…and hopes their character…is a reflection…of the type of loyal friend…my girls are to them…

So thank you…wonderful friends of those daughters of mine…it’s not a coincidence that you are in their lives…some Magicalmom…one day in the past…may have sent a little prayer…asking for her girls to find their people…to find their happy…

And here you are…
​
And those daughters of mine…agree…

​This old gal…

Rode the bus in DC…by herself…was reminded of the book…Love You Forever…by Robert Munsch…a delightful children’s book…that shows a loving mother…nurturing her child through life…and in return…her grown child…taking care of her in her elderly years…

So Ginger and Smidge…heading to the Holocaust Museum…this old gal is to hop the bus…to the bride’s to help with wedding stuff…worried for their mother…like seriously…if she can’t remember the word allocations…how will she ever navigate the bus system…

Those daughters of mine take charge…a photo heading out…a walk to the bus stop…a tutorial of the bus line app…reminders of where to get off…encouragement on how to pull the yellow cord…to make the bus stop…

The bus beats us to the stop…an old lady running fast…two girls smiling and waving good-bye…the yellow cord pulled at the right time…

A photo snapped at the other end…the bride proud as proud…that that mother of hers…found her way unscathed…

This old gal…does know how to use Google Maps…and could have found her way…more than likely…had she gotten off at the wrong stop…

But the parallel of a child’s first day of school bus ride…and this DC jaunt…made my heart smile…
I’ll love you, forever, my girls…
​
And this heart of mine…agrees…