Robbery and Release

Last week I received this video from my stepdad in my text messages. It’s my mom’s diner being robbed at 2:30 in the morning:

I FaceTimed my mom as soon as I saw the video, around 8:30 am. I expected to find her at the restaurant, rushing around and making sure the clean-up was going well.

Instead she answered the FaceTime from home, relaxing in her lounge chair with a steaming cup of coffee.

Me: “You’re home?”

My mom: “Yes…”

Me: “I just saw the video from last night!”

My mom: “Oh, yeah.”

Me: “Are you okay?”

My mom: “Well yes. I have my coffee and I’m getting ready to watch a Hallmark Movie.”

At 8:30 in the morning.

Me: “I can’t believe someone would be stupid enough to think a restaurant keeps money just sitting in a register over night!”

My mom, delicately: “Oh honey, he was on drugs.”

I don’t give her enough credit.

My mom, now laughing: “Imagine when he opened the register and just found a few rolls of coins!”

I’m from a small town. People still use actual money there.

Me: “What about all the broken glass?”

Here’s where things got weird…

My mom: “I’ve got people there cleaning it up.”

If this would have happened even a year ago, my mom would have been at the restaurant making sure that the booth under the broken window where the guy came in was absolutely spotless. And once the employees cleaned it she would have gone over the clean-up job herself because no one does anything quite up to snuff. No one. And that’s because no one else cares enough to do it right.

Me: “Have you even gone down there yet?”

My mom: “No.”

Me: “Aren’t you worried about someone getting a shard of glass in the heinie?”

Yes, I use the word heinie.

My mom: “No, the people cleaning will do a good job. I called my guy.”

She has a guy.

Me: “Oh Mom, I’m sorry about all this. And having to fix the window; what a pain!”

My mom: “That’s what insurance is for.” Laughing again. “Honey, did you think I’d be running around crying about it?”

Yes. Or shouting. Probably both.

The reason I’m telling you all of this, is that I am so happy my mom is in a place where she can just let go and trust that other people can, and will, get things done. She no longer has to do everything. And I do mean every. single. thing. I’m relieved that she is at a point in her life where she can just release the stress that comes from the all-consuming need to be, and to appear, perfect.

Maybe if she can do it, I can too.

Recs:

📚 Occult stuff set in ‘90s Mexico City featuring a lady sound editor and her childhood bestie/lifelong crush, who is a washed up former soap star? Will they, won’t they? And will they get sucked in to the power of black magic? Sign me up! It’s fun, it flows, and it’s a great read to wrap up spooky season!

📺 There was more going on here than most of us knew. If you’re old enough to remember the scandal, you’ll have some ah-ha moments as you watch this doc. These two artists (yes, they really were artists) while complicit, were unfairly made to shoulder the blame entirely. This doc is worth an hour and forty five minutes of your time, especially if you’re from the MTV generation.