0 March Secret Agent #33

TITLE: Memories in the Mist
GENRE: Women's Fiction blended with Historical Fiction

We often miss beginnings.

Our lives are busy; our focus is on ourselves; our responsibilities pull us in multiple directions. I know all of the above was true for me in 2006.

I missed an important beginning in Mom’s life. She lived in North Carolina. I divided myself among my life in Kentucky and my two daughters—Jenny in Alabama and Kate in Ohio. I visited my mother at best twice a year and trusted my sister, Angela, in South Carolina to check on Mom more frequently.

I’m here to tell you…playing catch up is hell.

It all began when a phone conversation revealed a glimpse of the future.

“I lost my car today at the mall,” Mom said when she phoned me in Kentucky.

“How did you do that?” A small inhale betrayed my concern. “You know the mall like the back of your hand.”

“I guess I do.” Mom chuckled. “After all, I’m there several times a week. Like to ramble around and see what’s new. You never know when you might stumble onto a bargain.”

I smiled. Ah yes, the elusive bargain. “But how did you lose the car?”

“Oh, I guess I’m just getting old. No worries. I finally found it. All’s well that ends well.”

I recognized fear in the tightness of Mom’s laughter. A series of prickles ran up my arm. I shuddered and made a mental note to put an orange tennis ball or fake flowers on Mom’s car antennae next time I visited.