Tag Archives: Mothers’ Day

Lollipops just bring me joy

23 Jun

As a child I loved (and I still love) lollipops.  There was something exciting about holding one in my hand and checking every now and then to see how much more I had until it was done.  You could not do that with a regular piece of candy! Too Gross!

The only poem that I wrote when a teenager that I can still remember by heart is the one I wrote about lollipops:

Lovely little lollipops

Sitting silently, staring.

Sending Sweet Signals

To Teeny Tiny Tummies

My original poem, which was published in my high school newspaper’s literary section, said “Sending Sexy Signals.”  But over time I think I realized that lollipops are not sexy at all, but they are extremely sweet.

By the time I was a teen, I became obsessed with Tootsie Roll lollipops.  Well not all of them, just Red Raspberry.  YUM.  The exciting part was opening the wrapper to see if I had the shooting Star.  If you had the shooting Star on your wrapper you had good luck and fortune. 

There are pages and pages on the internet related to the Tootsie Roll lollipop shooting star. Some people believed that if you found the star you got another lollipop for free.  I NEVER believed that.  However, I absolutely do believe that getting the Star was special.

When I was a mother with young children, I carried several red raspberry Tootsie Roll wrappers with Shooting Stars in my wallet for years, okay I’ll be honest, for DECADES.  For some reason my type of magical thinking told me that the Shooting Stars on a Tootsie Roll wrapper would help protect my two children.  Intellectually, I knew this was not true, but my heart said, “It can’t hurt!” 

But over time, the wrappers disintegrated, and my body aged, making eating lollipops not part of my diet.  Although occasionally, if I see them at an office or a store counter for children, I do ask if I can have one as well.  My love of lollipops is always with me, even if I cannot eat them.

The art display at Minneapolis Airport.

In July of 2025, when flying to Iceland with a layover at the Minneapolis Airport, my Lollipop love got a sparkle of joy.  At the airport, near my gate, there was display of ceramic tiles by a local artist.  One of the tiles caught my eye immediately:  a lollipop forest.  I immediately took a photo of the display.  The joy in the art reminded me of the joy I had as a child enjoying a lollipop.

We boarded our flight; we went on our vacation; then to be with our daughter and her husband as they were having a baby.  The month went by quickly.  We flew home.  Life intervened.  When I thought about the Lollipop Forest, it was at odd moments. But I thought it was just going to be a nice memory.

This year around Mother’s Day, when I was asked what I wanted, I had no idea.  But I was strolling through all my photos.  My ICloud account was filling rapidly.  Photos were overwhelming my account.  I really had to delete photos and videos I didn’t need.  While scrolling, I saw the picture of that lovely lollipop forest. Wow! That would be a great Mother’s Day gift!!!

Luckily, I took a photo that included information about the artist.  I found the artist online, and to my delight, “White Birds Flying over the Lollipop Forest” was still available for purchase.  I still get a smile on my face when I think about how happy that made me!

The Lollipop Forest at my house.

My Mother’s Day gift arrived a bit late, but it’s absolutely lovely.  It is hanging where I can see it from my chair as I crochet.  When I look at the Lollipop Forest, remember my poem, my Tootsie Roll Stars, my love of lollipops and just enjoy this sweet line of lollipops.

Lollipops just give me joy!

I am not advertising that you buy anything from this site.  But this site provides a good history of the Tootsie Roll Shooting Star myth:  https://www.candyfavorites.com/pages/unwrapping-the-tootsie-pop-wrapper?srsltid=AfmBOoov4srdr2hmXjDoyjXD5i5eAdN53bih-L0lT-i0BW4T12hTz3aB

https://www.susanfeigenbaum.net/statement

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Remembering My Mother In Law With a Manicure and Pedicure

6 May

On May 12, I am going to get a manicure and a pedicure. I do this once a month. But on May 12 it will be a special event. My husband’s mother, Lee, would have been 90 years old on this date. She died when she was only 59.

Before I met my mother-in-law, I did not know anyone who went for weekly manicures. But Lee did. Each week she got her hair put in to a French knot and had bright red polish put on her nails. She had beautiful hands and nails.

I was a nail biter. The only time I ever had a manicure was the week before my wedding and on my wedding day, in an effort to stop me from this awful habit. It worked to a degree. And Lee encouraged it. She would occasionally take me for a manicure when we were in town visiting.

When she was in her last months, the lovely woman who had done her hair and nails for so long, would come to the hospital once a week to wash her hair and do her nails. She told me that as long as she could, she would help Lee feel beautiful. She did this for the last three months of Lee’s illness. What an angel!

My mother in law died so young because she was a smoker.  Lung cancer destroyed her and impacted my husband. Last year, when my husband and I were both 59, my husband was in a state of mild anxiety all year. I did not realize how much his age was weighing on him until we both turned 60. “We made it,” he told me. “We made it past 59.”

So on May 12, my mother-in-law’s 90 birthday, I will get a manicure and pedicure. It is not an unusual occurrence. I go every other week to have a manicure and I go monthly for a pedicure. But this time, when I am 60, I feel it is important to celebrate her 90th birthday and Mothers’ Day in a way that will connect me to her.

My daughter used to model bridal gowns. This was one of her favorite mani/pedis.

My daughter used to model bridal gowns. This was one of her favorite mani/pedis.

Having a manicure is a way to remember Lee. I took my daughter for her first manicure when she was seven.  She is named for her grandmother, so I thought she should experience a manicure at a younger age! We put a tiara on her head and made her feel special. She loved to go. When she was a teen, she often wanted purple polish or even different colors on every other nail.

She modeled wedding gowns while in high school, and would get demure polish then. To this day, my daughter still loves to get a manicure, but no bright reds for her now! She is into the more quiet French tips, where clear polish is put on the nail beds and only white or pale pink is put on the tips.

When my mother would come to visit me, I always took her out for a manicure. My mother never took the time for this pampering when she was home. She did all her manicures by herself. She only went to a salon twice a year, when she visited me. She loved going, but felt with her arthritis, it was not worth it. However, whenever she went she felt great! To me it was a gift I could give to my Mom.

But for me, a manicure was a must. I have been going to the same person, Mary,  for over 25 years. I was one of her first clients. And when she moved into her own store, Old Town Hair and Nails, in Lenexa, KS, I followed along. She has polished the nails of my Mom, my daughter and even my sister, who I recently took to the salon.

One of my more colorful mani/pedi.

One of my more colorful mani/pedi.

The pampering of a manicure was something I learned from Lee. Twice a month, I sit with a woman who has basically shared my life with me. We talk, we have silent times, we visit. I do not answer the phone, (unless it is my children). I chose a color to fit my mood. Sometimes I chose a pink or a coral. Other times I am bold with a blue! Other times, I have sparkling tips put over the basic color. And some times, I have one nail on each hand polished slightly differently.

I am not sure if Lee would have liked all these variations. She liked the same color every week — the same bright red.

But it does not matter. This May, a few days after Mothers’ Day, I will be remembering my husband’s mother with a manicure and pedicure. And in my heart wishing her a happy 90th birthday.

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