Yesterday, after a meeting at the bank, I sat out on the steps in front of the Manulife building. It was a beautiful, mild day and Yorkville was alive with people. At the intersection of Bay and Bloor, a woman in a car waiting for the lights to change, leaned out the window. With a cigarette hanging from her lip, she began to shout “ MOM! MOM! HEY, MOM!!”
A woman of about 55, who was walking on the sidewalk, stopped and looked over her shoulder. Recognizing her daughter, she burst into a huge grin and began to walk/run toward the car, waving in that excited manner that it seems only mothers can pull off. As she got closer the streetlight changed. The mother immediately began to furiously wave her arms, trying to get her daughter to drive on and not hold up traffic. It was sweet, as if the mother were saying, in her way, “save yourself, don’t worry about me, honey, save yourself!”
The daughter was dutiful and drove off, but not before yelling, “I love you!” The mother beamed back, watching the car drive away, mouthing “I love you, too,” words that although not heard, were most surely felt.