Mother

As I'm interviewing my mother and writing her story, my main purpose seems to be to better understand her. Her memory is fantastic, especially considering that she is 95 years old. Very rarely does she have to pause and think in what order things happened. And she recalls most things in great detail.

What is interesting is how dispassionately she describes most things. Rarely does emotion enter into the picture - even when she had just given birth and couldn't get to shelter during an air raid. "How did you feel?" is a question I constantly have to ask. And she often doesn't have an answer.

And yet, I know her as an emotional woman. I just talked to her on the phone and she started crying because she'd picked up the wrong product while grocery shopping.

It's odd. It confused me too when I was growing up - her odd emotions - or perhaps I should say her odd way of showing her emotions.

I'm pressing on. I want to learn something here - something not only about her but about myself.