Rekha's Ramblings

  These days shopping for a car for our teenage son and remembered my days, twenty one years ago.  I was new in this country, didn’t know anything about car shopping or buying , nobody to help; but a car was a must since no public transportation available in the little town of Thomasville GA.  After six months of walking, hiring taxi cabs, rides from coworkers, it was about time to get one. All the other Indian friends said to buy either a Honda or a Toyota , they are good cars , economical, can last up to 200,000 miles etc. (trust me, I was clueless as to what that meant, no one from my family had ever owned a car )  Some of my friends who had arrived with me had bought used cars and were having trouble.  So I decided to buy a new car.  One of my friends drove me to the dealer one day, it happened to be a Honda dealer as it was near to the place of work . He had two civics left on the lot for that year , another one of my friends and I bought the same exac...

On this mother's day, the tragic loss of one of my neighbors is still fresh on my mind and the heart goes out to her children , I am grateful and thankful for my mother and my children but also can not help but think of some of the women I know; some of my friends who lost their mother at an young age, friends who have lost a child , friends who tried to be a mother for a number of years eventually giving up, friends who have adopted despite having children of their own and otherwise, and friends who simply chose not to have a child of their own so they could be a mother to the one who was left behind.. all off you are on my mind , I admire your strength , your courage , each one of you unique in your own way.. all of you lovely women !Ramblings of a grieving woman!!

  I used to think of myself as a very strong person, that I made decisions using my brain, not my heart, not emotional but practical and blah, blah blah …..  And now that’s what it has been reduced to, just blah, blah, blah.  I was strong and then I became a mother , and have turned into this emotional wreck and find myself doing things that I would never have done otherwise , the “awwws”, the “ muaahas” , the “love” and “kisses” and “hugs”…. Driving was not an issue then , I drove myself everywhere but then they came along and I was responsible for not just me but the three of them in the backseat and when they were little , most nights would be sleepless nights as I would be home alone taking care of them, in a constant alert mode , responsible for their safety, couldn’t take a chance to drive myself and endanger their lives and so the driving stopped, just limited to grocery shopping and short distance .  I had to go somewhere the other day, over an hour’s drive, ...

  You hear people telling you about how life is short, advising you to enjoy and cherish every moment . You hear them, you go on with your life and you get busy. My mom has not been well for the past few days and she is the one who is on my mind, and then comes this shocking news out of nowhere. It's not like we saw each other or talked to each other daily but knew she would be there in my time of need, always smiling, helping others, tending to her flowers, her garden, always paused to talk when she saw me passing by and you never think that you can feel and suffer this tragic loss.... But you do.  Lost one of my neighbors in an a car accident .Will miss her!  These are in loving memory of my neighbor !  Pardon me, this is me and my ramblings out of extreme sadness and loss!!

  Marked off one more thing off my bucket list, touring college campuses, a tradition here in America. Obviously I was more excited than the children ;wishing if I could go back to college all over and live in those college dorms , do all the things that I didn't have a chance to do then such as study abroad ; to that my daughter says, "but mom , you are already abroad !" ( I come from India) ya , but not the same , came here to work , studying abroad would be a different ball game especially if it was somewhere in Europe ... Ramblings of one excited Mom!

  This is what I wrote to President Obama and this is his reply.  Please keep in mind that I come from a land of a billion people where my voice would get lost in the bureaucracy, it's a big deal that I can actually write to the President and even bigger deal to get an actual response, an acknowledgement from the White House itself !!  Now that's what I am talking about, in my eyes, this nation was already "great". I had written it a couple of years ago but didn't mail it in until now, somehow I think this is the time to be hopeful than any other and hope that people choose the right person. My ramblings !!

  Coming from India and not ever having seen the snow, it was soooo exciting to see it , the very first year in the USA , that too in Atlanta ,GA, I thought I was "lucky"; able to go out with minimum winter gear. The novelty wore off quickly with one near death experience several years ago in the mountains of Pennsylvania (skidded off with several 360 degree turns ), had enough of the snow . Only time I ever venture out in the snow now is to take pictures on our street , walking , no driving and that's it ! Some of my family members who still have not seen the snow, said I was ,"lucky " when I sent them a video from this morning".... I got nothing better to do today but continue with my ramblings !