Text Twist

My mother loved Text Twist. She used our old desktop almost exclusively for this purpose.  She had reached dozens and dozens of rounds in the game because she merely paused it whenever she needed to go do something else. So sometimes, a single game would be days old.

If she got stumped on the longest word, she asked any of us in the room to help. I used to go through my old notebooks or text files and find just seven random capital letters and nothing else. These are where I used to hastily write the jumbled letters as Mama would call out each one and ask us to find the longest word they could make. Whenever I got it right, she was always generous with her praises. In my mother's eyes, I was smart, I was quick, I was great. ll because I enabled her to get to the next round of her favorite game. She liked it that much.

Some idle night while I watched her play, I took out my cellphone camera and took pictures of her in engrossed concentration. I still have them somewhere, but I can't look at them now without feeling sad. Sometimes, if I try hard enough, I can somehow contain the memories only to the happy ones. If I just recall one very specific thing - playing Text Twist, cooking Christmas dinner, or watching Harrison Ford movies - I can look back and be happy that the experience even happened. 

I miss my mother all the time and I think of her everday without fail, but I'm finding the second Sunday of May especially melancholic. I wish she were still here. I do miss her taking care of me, but I wish she were still here so I can take care of her. I know my siblings feel the same way. She was gone too soon and we have not begun to repay - no, repaying would be impossible - but even just to show her how thankful we are to have had her.

Tonight, I play Text Twist as I welcome Mother's Day. And what is now my yearly request on this occasion, please hug your mothers for me. Be thankful that you still have the chance.