Mother’s advice

Every time I change a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, I think of my mother. This thought connection goes back 40 years or so.

Home from college with a trimester of learning under my belt and armed with a whole lot of wisdom—or so I thought, I was doing laundry while Mom and I were chatting. Taking one wadded-up shirt out of the washer, I threw it into the dryer. Then I continued to put wet, wadded-up clothes into the dryer. Mom said, “You know, I find clothes dry better if you shake them out before putting them into the dryer.”

I scoffed at my mother’s advice, likely rolling my eyes, and kept using my technique. Even as I did, I knew Mom was right. I didn’t like being given advice even if Mom had done it with her trademark genteel, Southern charm.

Mom isn’t around now to give me advice. But I think of her every time I do the laundry, and I offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for her life. I regularly recall many other pieces of advice from Mom too. As many daughters find, there are even moments when my mother’s words seem to come straight out of my own mouth as if I’m channeling her!

This message is an excerpt from a Women of the ELCA blog by Linda Post Bushkofsky.

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