I Went to Iowa to See my Mother

I went to Iowa today to see my mother. I've been meaning to do that, because she has had health problems lately. I haven't been very good about going up there to visit, unless there is some sort of "event." I'm in contact with my mother every day (in fact, she reads this blog ~ Hi Mom!), but she will probably not tell me if there is anything I can do for her, and I will have a better chance at discerning if there is anything she needs if I go up and visit a little more often on the weekends.

It's about a 2 1/2-hour drive. I enjoy getting in the car and driving ~ it gives me a chance to listen to lectures from The Teaching Company, or just enjoy the silence. (I chose silence on the way up, and ancient literature on the way back. I now know more than I did about Gilgamesh and the Torah.)

Yesterday I found out that a fellow Where's George hobbyist works at a restaurant in a nearby town, so that gave me the idea to take my mom out to dinner at that restaurant.

It turned out to be a very lovely place. I was expecting more of a small-town diner atmosphere, but this was a bit fancier than that. It still has the small-town feel, but it's the kind of place people go for special occasions.

In fact, the moment we walked in the door, my mother was greeted by someone she knew. She recently served as interim pastor for one of the Presbyterian churches in this town, and one of her former parishioners was there to celebrate a family birthday.

The lady asked how Mom was. Mom said, "Oh, I've been better ~ I'm going to have brain surgery!" --and the lady responded, "Well it's ABOUT TIME!" I love that kind of sense of humor!

One of the things my mother has to do, to prepare for the surgery, is get her blood pressure down. The first thing she ordered when we sat down at the table was a big plate of onion rings! I should not have let her get away with this, but evidently, it is a specialty of this restaurant.



We didn't eat all of them ~ and the rest of the meal was fairly healthy ~ we both had salmon, a salad, bread, and green beans.