I love my mom. How can you not love a lady whose name is Elsie Mae and who says things like, "Oh My Stars and Garters!?" She has a childlike enthusiasm for everything life has to offer. However, I'm afraid my mom is a movie ARP! I took her to see Atonement last week. It always happens this way; I ask her to the movies, and only on the way there do I remember how potentially uncomfortable it can be to be in a theater with Mom. As you can imagine (see sidebar), her sense of humor is sometimes a bit, well...different than some. At movies, she laughs out loud at the funny parts, but Mom also laughs out loud at parts that are only funny to her. She also has a habit of stating the obvious in a loud way. For example, in one of the beginning scenes of Atonement, you see two boys of the same age, with the same curly, red mops for hair, same outifts,etc. Mom says, loud and clear, "They're twins!" Early in the movie, there is a very, very inappropriate word typed onto a typewriter. Let me just warn you; it rhymes with "punt," and it can be very alarming to see that right off the bat with your 78-year-old mother sitting next to you. I threw my hand up over her eyes the second time I saw it coming, and she chuckled,"What kind of movie did you take your old mother to, Girl?!" (This lady is sweet, I tell you!) When one of the characters later says a swear word, Mom says out loud, "Watch your 'slanguage,' Young Man!" She is so funny, so cute, and so annoying all at the same time. Fortunately, we have never gotten any dirty looks (it may be too dark to see them?), and we've never been asked to leave, so maybe it's not as bad as I fear?
As annoying as these habits can be, though, I have to admit that hearing Mom belly-laugh and exclaim "Oh, my heavens!" every now and then is totally worth it. There will come a day when she won't be there to annoy me, and I'll wish she was there to remind me of what's funny, delightful, and charming about life. So, if you are ever at the movies and you hear a lady talking out loud and laughing at odd times, imagine that she is Elsie Mae, and instead of being mad, smile.
