My Mother's Happiest Time

My mother has been on my mind for this whole week. She passed away over fifty years ago, but we were in her territory now. We went to Palm Springs to recuperate from bad colds and I could feel her everywhere.  She loved Palm Springs! She and my Dad bought an apartment at the new Ocatillo Lodge and joined the Canyon Country Club.  

The  Ocatillo was a whole new sun shined life for her. I thought they were so old at the time, but now I realize they were only in their late fifties.  Their children were all married and had children of their own. This was their time! None of us knew she only a few years left to live.

Bob and I had been sick with that terrible  cold  was going around for weeks and so when a friend offered to have a book signing in the desert, we jumped at the chance! We coincidentally rented a house on the golf course of Canyon Country Club.  I was literally walking in her shoes.

It had been raining like mad in Santa Barbara and it was cold and damp in our house so you can imagine how excited we were to just relax in that wonderful sunshine. The sun was delicious! We just laid there like two slabs of meat. It felt so good we just  baked. We played a little golf, I had my book signing, we met with friends, and all the time my mother was on my mind. I could picture her there, loving it!

At the end of five days we had our last night out with some friends and we felt much better with less coughing and general fatigue. We came home from dinner and I took off my jewelry, which consisted of a long silver necklace and a strand of diamonds, I wore around my neck, made up of earrings my mother had left me. I laid them on the counter and before my unbelieving eyes the diamond necklace slithered off the counter onto the sink and down the drain. I thought, "NO! This cannot be true!" I felt out of body as if I made it up. It was 11 o’clock at night, so I called the man who managed the property and left a message that I needed an emergency visit from a plumber early in the a.m. , as quickly as he could get him. I didn't sleep all night, my husband kept reassuring me "We’ll get it," he said, "you'll see, it'll be all right." "Please God," I thought at 7 o’clock the next morning I wondered who else I could call. At 7:30 I finally called my girlfriend who lived in the desert and asked who her plumber was. She gave me her plumbers name and number .  I called and I heard them say they would try to be there by 12 o'clock that day. I walked around the house making deals with God and then I walked around the house some more. I thought to myself "really, how did this happen? Why did it happen?" I kept asking myself over and over. At 10:30, Bill the plumber showed up. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life. He said we would have a good chance it could be in the crook of  the arm underneath the sink, if it didn’t already slip down too far to be reached. I couldn’t watch him work. I kept walking around the house until I finally heard Bill ( my new best friend ) call out “Beverlye, Is this what you’re looking for?” and there it was , my mother’s diamonds on that long chain.

I was so grateful!
It was a wonderful trip, after all.
We loaded up the car and I said goodbye to the desert and my Mom and Dad. When I later told my daughter that story , she asked “What did that whole incident  mean to you?” and I replied, “Contrary to what it seems like, my mother is still around, looking out for me and I am very happy to have her here”.

​Thanks, Mom