MY Mom

I've never been as attached to Mom as, say, TravelinDin.
Yes, I love Mom dearly, but our personalities tend to clash... especially in my teen years... and once in a while now.
She's more on the strict side... she's umm... controlling and hardheaded to say the least.
There's no way in hell you'll be able to change my mother's mind once she's made it.

Of course, as a kid, I hated everyone BUT Mom.
I'd cry whenever anyone would approach me. I'm sure I've mentioned how the first word I learned to utter was "NO!!" only because I'd say that whenever anyone would try and approach me as I sat in Mom's arms (and I'd bury my head into her shoulder and continue to whisper "No... no... no!" until the person went away).
I had this freak attachment to her probably up until I was 6.
It was such a freak attachment, that I'd take to crying so hard that I'd pass out whenever I'd be out of Mom's sight.
I remember two instances of this happening:

When Mom's brother died, the Perfect Dad, I remember a ton of things... even if I was only 4 years old at the time.
I remember Mom receiving the news and how she reacted... how we all reacted.
I remember the truck ride to Oakland and how mom would periodically burst into tears and sobs.
I remember when we got off the truck and entered my aunt's home late at night.
I remember my cousin (the one who was in the plane with me in that one "Strap Yourself" entry) letting me play with her white Barbie Horse on the front lawn as the adults stayed inside and went through the whole mourning process.
I also remember what it was like inside that house.
Crowded... everyone crying... the kids all in my boy cousin's (the one in the same plane as my bro in Strap Yourself) room playing "Punch Out" while that boy cousin just sat there... with the saddest eyes I've ever seen... drawing "Duck Tales"... often with tears streaking down his face and wetting the paper he was using.
This scene, from all of them, would captivate me most.
I'd walk into the room and see what was going on... then walk over to my cousin as he drew... until Mom would come to check in and I'd leave with her.
Well, one time, she didn't come in... and the boys were getting rowdy ("Ooooooo!! I'm kicking your ass!!!" "No you're not!!" "You're cheating!!!" etc), which scared me, so I walked out of the room alone.
Next thing I know, I'm confused... I have no clue where I am... and all these adults are doing the whole "Aww!! Come here, cutie in the booties!!" "What big eyes you have!!" "And who are you, little one?" then trying to grab me.
Of course, this bewildered the shit out of me, so I broke into loud "Where's MY Mom?!" sobs and bawled.
Then everything's black.
I wake up slung over my Godfather's (Mom's little bro) left shoulder, and he's petting my back.
He cheers me up by playing around with me, then he hands me to Mom... from whom I don't ever part... for that day, of course.

The second instance of me crying until I pass out came up in kindergarten, and I told Mom about this one, since she wasn't aware.
It was a Friday, and we were waiting to be dismissed for the day. I don't know which day exactly was going to be mother's day, just that it was that weekend.
We each had our little hand-made gift we were going to give our Mom's:
A rose made of tissue paper and pipe cleaners, with the "vase" being a cardboard circle rolled into a cone.
I clearly remember my "vase" being very decorative... with a white and red motif... and the rose, of course, was red.
I have no clue why I did this, but, I guess I got a little nostalgic... or I just wanted to leave right then... but point is, I started missing my mom like crazy, so I started to cry.
I remember the teacher asking the kids around me what was wrong, and them just shrugging.
"She just started to cry... I think she misses her mom...?"
I remember this embarrassed me... so I cried some more (lame, I know).
"I want my Mommmmmmmmm!!!"
I cried... and cried... and cried...
Until, once again, everything went pitch black.
I woke up lying on the floor, with the kids making a circle around me and staring.
I remember thinking "What's their problem??" grabbing my fake flower and vase, dusting myself off... and looking around, asking "What???"
I made line at the classroom door, and waited patiently for Mom.

Yep.
So, here's my entry dedicated to
MY Mom on American Mother's Day (You see, Mexican Mother's Day was yesterday)
The lady that unknowingly turned me into a narcoleptic as a child...
The lady whose kids seem to be so possessive of... they constantly confuse their friends when they refer to her as "MY Mom"
(TravelinDin made me laugh when she told the story of how the kids in her study abroad program were confused when they heard her and Older Brother talk about our parents.
Bro: How's my dad doing?
TravelinDin: I haven't talked to my dad, but AnoMALIE said he's doing OK.
Bro: How about my mom?
TravelinDin: I talked to my mom yesterday, and she said she's doing alright.
Some chick: Wait, wait, wait! You guys have the same parent's, right?
TravelinDin: Yeah...
Some other chick: Ok... we just thought it was confusing how you guys each referred to your folks as "MY Mom" and "MY Dad." We first thought you guys had different dads... but then you did the same thing with your mom... so we were confused.
I never noticed we did that until Chase brought it up a couple years back)