Safety Nets

At 55, (and I don't mean speed limit), sometimes I really miss the safety nets. When life's unfair & the problems overwhelm, who can I call?  I miss my Mom. She could always make me feel better. As long as she lived I always felt she was my backup plan.  Even if all she did was listen, I knew she had the answers, she would do the worrying for me & she loved me no matter what.  I remember my Dad, sleeping over on the sofa the night my husband died.  I miss how he always came through with what I needed, a ride when I couldn't drive after Aimee was born, taking care of car repair when I didn't know what to do, and giving me the best financial advice ever.  He would say there is no such things as emergencies.  You just need to plan a cushion into your budget. He was the one who taught me to spend less than my income & not live to the limit because something unplanned was always around the corner.  He taught me to drive & always said everyone had the right of way but me...and that is so true!  I miss Aunt Katy.  She gave me her sense of humor, her love of flowers, (but not her green thumb in growing them), and I miss her mega shopping trips where she bought everything we ever thot of needing! Those three, Mom, Dad & Katy taught me all I needed to make it through this world.  They believed in me. They encouraged me. And they never left me.  Even now, I take counsel from remembering what they said or believed in. But the torch has passed.  Now I am the Mom they call..........I can never measure up.