Today is March 18th, two days from the first day of Spring and it was a beautiful day!  Looked, felt and smelled like a summer day.  I had been reading on my back porch, listening to the birds and windchimes in the background and I looked out into the yard and noticed how bright the sun was.  The thought went through my mind that I should be laying in the sun!  So I dropped my Kindle and ran to my room!  Threw my bikini on, grabbed a couple of beach towels, suntan oil spray and fixed a big bottle of water with lemon and cucumber slices and hit the the back door!  There was a pretty strong breeze and it felt fabulous because in just a few minutes, I was feeling the sun.

Once I got situated I started to daydream and took a walk down memory lane.  Almost every time I lay in the sun I remember days when I was in high school when during the summer, Mom and I would lay side by side on our lounge chairs in the back yard and soak up the sun.  She always used a hard little twist-up thing of cocoa butter and I can still remember the smell. 

Living in South Florida, she wore her bathing suit almost every day.  She had several different colors but the same cut, I remember a light green and white one and a coral and white one.  She was a little thick around the middle but she wore a two piece and had the most amazing legs!  She was such a beautiful woman and always had the perfect, golden tan.  She wore her nails long and took care of them herself, her favorite nail polish was Revlon, Fire Pearl.  It was a slightly pearlized darker hot pink and looked great on her with her tan.

We would lay there soaking up the sun until we started to get hot and then walk down the steps of the pool and swim down to the deep end and back.  Our dog always laid under one of our chairs and she would also walk into the pool, swim down to the deep end and back.  The three of us girls would then casually walk back up and out to our chairs, Mom and I would lay back down and Sandy would ZOOM 'round and 'round the back yard until she wore herself out and then would lay back down under our chair, waiting for our next swim.

Mom didn't drive at that time, I don't remember ever going anywhere with her, just her and I, so those moments in the sun, in the peace and quiet of a beautiful summer day, were our Mother/Daughter time, that and when she would let me sit in the bottom of her closet, trying on all of her high heels, she had so many, in colors to match different outfits, and I dreamt of one day being able to wear them.  My feet never did get big enough. 

The smell of Estee Lauder Youth Dew, Wrigley's Spearmint gum and leather and warm summer days....these are the things that make me feel like she is right beside me, happy, young and tan.

Musings of a modern day mamaw.

Mom and her first two daughters-in law.  Look at those legs!