Sunday, October 08, 2006

Her latest idea

My mother has had many jobs in her life, always following her new dream. A few random examples would be: a hamburger fast-food cafeteria in the south of Spain in the early 70s, a chic nouvelle cuisine restaurant in the South of Spain in the mid 70s, a fashion boutique in a Swiss ski resort in the 80s, etc. Some of her projets lasted a few years, others a few months. I truly believe most of her ideas were good but ahead of their time, especially given the place where she developped them. These ideas would have most probably been extremely successful in other places where we later lived like Madrid or Lausanne. I therefore always stood behind her, helping and supporting her in whichever way I could.

And so when she shared with me her latest idea to buy a big house in the old city of Sion and do a B&B (an old dream of hers), I immediately cheered. This project seemed perfect for her soon-to-come retirement and I knew she'd be so good at it! And this time, it was the right place and the right time, as the city of Sion needs this kind of charming acomodation. So we went to see the house during my stay there, as she wanted my opinion. I fell in love with the house, just as she had. And so, before I was to return to Germany, the house was reserved and her project was taking shape.


Now that the way is clear, my mother has doubts. In the past, she's always followed her heart, acting immediately on it. This seems to have changed, as she's thinking it over and over and doubting more and more about the house. Thoughts like "I am too old for such a thing" and "what if I end up on a wheelchair" are preventing her to go through with this idea. I of course find it a pitty, because I know that she would have been happy with this and good at it. But I understand her fears, stand behind her and support her decision, whatever it might be. Sixty years might actually have brought her wisdom.

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