Duchess is a Wheel Greaser

She is also an Australian Sheep Dog.

I know because she told me.  As you know, she is at my house this week getting me in order – and I do mean getting me in order.  Not just physically – we cleaned out my pantry and my clothes closet –  but emotionally as well.

E used to tell me that I allowed my mother to work too hard while she is here.  My response has always been “I can’t stop her.”  Her announcement to the family this week was: “It makes me happy.  It gives me purpose.  I am a Wheel Greaser and an Australian Sheep Dog. ”

This is a summary of her explanation:  She said she doesn’t have great visions or grand plans. She just works with people who do and helps them make them happen.  She did that for my father who needed someone to smooth out the bumps in his road.  He had to have a wife to keep his multitude of great, grinding, genius-level gears running smoothly.  That’s what my mom did.  She is a Wheel Greaser.

Her new revelation is that she is also an Australian Sheep Dog.  Those dogs are not happy unless they are working.  They were bred to herd.  That’s what they enjoy.   Mom says she loves coming here because it gives her purpose.  She loves jumping into the middle of whatever familial stuff we have going on at my house and herding us in the right direction.

And she is good at it too . . .

The thing is she sees the value of it.  Most people want to be center stage.  Seen as visionaries. Mom is not into that.  She is good at what she does and takes great pride in it.  “Everybody brings something to the table.  This is what I bring . . . and I AM GOOD.”

She’s got that right.  I don’t just love my mother I am astounded by her.

That is, I suppose, why I wrote my book.  She may not need nor want applause but she’s getting it anyway!

“My Mother’s Rules”

Yes indeed,

My Mother does rule.

As I end this, I am in tears.