[Marilyn]

My Mother was hard to please. She, too had very high expectations, and I failed in many respects. Like you, I was in National Honor Society, and she thought my grades were not good eough. I got a degree in engineering which she never understood and she definitely didn't like me working with men.

We had a strange relationship. When she and my father had arguments, I was the one who consoled her and listened to her. I knew more than I really should have about their relationship, but looking back, she did love me very much and spoiled me in many ways. I was her only child, and she expected a lot of me. As I get older, I appreciate her much more than I did when I was younger. All in all, she was a very good mom. She did the best she knew how.

My father passed away in 1995, and my mother developed dementia soon after and spend the last four years of her life in a nursing home. I visited almost every day. My daughters would do there homework there in the evenings while I fed her and read or sang to her. She passed away in 2000.

I do miss her and wish at times that I could tell her about things. Apologize for some things and ask her about others.

I know my own daughters have complaints about me. Partly because I'm probably a little more like my own mother in some ways than I would like to admit. Oh, well, we do our best.