Mother vs. Hulk Hogan

Mother vs. Hulk Hogan

 I could give many examples of my wife’s love for me, but none is more significant than when she asked me if we could invite my elderly mother to come and live with us after her divorce from my step-father.  In all honesty I kind of longed for that type of arrangement, but I wasn’t about to impose that on her.  Again showing grace beyond belief she worked out chore responsibilities with my mother to make her not only feel welcomed but also a working part of the family.

My mother having a reputation for being a great master of the kitchen was assigned the chef duties and my wife handled everything else.  I of course was in hog heaven.  I ate the foods I enjoyed growing up, plus I had my whole family under one roof to look after, and provide for.  I’m sorry to say that the arrangement lasted no more than six or seven months.  We began to notice that my wife and I were gaining weight quicker than ever before, so my wife rearranged the duties and mother came out of the kitchen.  To be sure my wife cooked with healthy eating in mind, while my mother just made sure that the food was finger licking good.

My duties now included entertaining my mother and it involved the following, but not limited to: maintaining her in a supply of yarn, and materials for other crafts that she and my wife shared, including embroidery.  All those crafts after a while were not enough so I made the mistake of introducing my mother to Bingo at the local Casino.  We got lucky almost immediately, and before you knew it we were playing bingo on an average of 3 times a week (about two hours per outing).  It didn’t help that we lived less than a couple of miles from a very popular casino.

Another big interest of my mother’s became the WWF (later changed to WWE).  Most all the wrestlers were her favorites, Hulk Hogan, Macho Man “Randy Savage,” Kamala the Butcher, Jake the Snake, on and on.  I actually took my mother to some live wrestling matches at a nearby Domed Arena, and she had the time of her life.  There is a big reason for the build-up on the WWF.

The following year my mother for a short period of time seem to act a little depressed, so I came up with a great idea to bring her out of it.  I contacted my grandmother in California whom my mother had always maintained a close relationship with, and invited her to come to the Northwest and visit for a week.  Due to the fact that my grandmother was already in her 80’s, I also invited my grandmother’s daughter (my only aunt from my father’s side of the family).  After purchasing two round-trip airplane tickets for them, I had to make up a story so my mother would accompany me to the airport without giving away the surprise.

I told my mother that Hulk Hogan and a bunch of other wrestlers including Macho Man, and his manager Ms. Elizabeth, were coming to town for a Main Event, and that they would be arriving by plane at the airport.  I further told her that a friend gave me inside information and that we could go see them arrive and get their autograph.  Mother cheered up at the thought of meeting the Hulk, and Macho Man in person.

Once at the airport, the flight I was expecting (prior to the security restrictions of September 11, 2001), arrived and we were sitting nearby watching everyone come out of the tunnel.  I told mother to keep her eyes focused on the people coming off of the plane.  I was expecting that she would see and recognize my aunt and grandmother, as they entered the terminal.  When I saw them and they saw me, they walked towards and stood right in front of us, but my mother didn’t even notice them.  She was trying to look around them still looking for Hulk Hogan.  I finally said mom look who is here, she was filled with joy and stood up and hug them both, but as soon as she could she turned to me and in a low voice asked me; “Does that mean that Hulk is not coming?”  The following week was the best ever for catching up, adding details to the family tree project, and just plain fun.  That would also be the last time that my mother, grandmother and aunt would visit together.  I guess I did do a good thing after all.  Stay tuned the best is yet to come……