I took Maggie, the portable typewriter, out of retirement this evening and placed her on the library table in front of the bookshelf.
The typewriter, a gift from my mother for my 16th birthday. Birthday, wanted to help me find a gift for mom for her 108th.th Birthday on August 19th. At least that would be the case if there was still ink left on the old typewriter ribbons.
“Don’t let me down now,” I pleaded with Maggie as I carefully rolled up a sheet of paper, wondering if I remembered how to set margins. Of course she helped me. She wasn’t put off by something as small as age. The black ribbon printed in a light gray that gradually got lighter, which seemed somehow fitting:
Dear mum,
Patty and Maggie here. Since you brought us together, we have created a life of stories. Sometimes the thoughts would get tangled in my head just to sort them out on that keyboard. I liked having to physically work hard to press down the keys. It gave clarity to my writing. So I went back to it tonight to write your birthday story.
It was the year I failed geometry. When I came home from school and told you the news, your reaction did not reflect the sense of failure I felt.
“When will I ever need geometry?” I asked myself that question rather than you.
“You never know,” you said. “So you try again and do better this time.”
And then, as if nothing tragic had happened, you suggested we buy bedspreads for my twin beds, something I had wanted for a long time. A few hours later we came home with the pink and white polka dot bedspreads and bed skirts that made them look like sofas. And you made a matching skirt for the little dressing table you got me from Green Stamps.
My friends and I spent so many happy hours in that attic room with the bedspreads you bought me the day I failed geometry.
Yes, I retook the test and got an A. But most importantly, when I look back on the day I was so desperate to tell you my bad news, I see that it is covered in pink dots.
Thank you, mom, and happy birthday.
e-mail [email protected]. Follow her on X @patricabunin and on patriciabunin.com
Originally published:
