I am a creature of habit..
I do things according to a schedule and tend not waver from that.

My family knows my obsessions.

Today is towel changing day..
As I took the towels out from the linen cupboard, I thought I will reorganize the towels and took all the towels out. The towel in the middle had something in it and I opened to see what is it.

Lorikeet painting!!

It was a custom ordered painting that I got for my mother on her birthday.

It took a long time before I figured what to get her for her birthday. Few years ago she wanted a jade pendant and I spend months looking for the perfect jade for her..( It was really a tough job as I refused to buy Burmese jade ( Protesting against the imprisonment of Ang San Suu Kyi)
This time when she came she returned the jade pendant saying she didn’t want to keep anything expensive with her.

What could I give my mother on her birthday?
If I give her money, she won’t take or give it to my sisters.
If I give her clothes, she won’t wear.
If I give her something to use in the house, she would distribute it to others..

I had noticed that Amma loved to watch the Lorikeets that visit my bird feeder.
So I asked my friend who is a painter to do a Lorikeet painting for her ( cost an arm and a leg)..I thought at least she can remember her time in Australia.

I took care of her for 7 months.

In that 7 months I have not once yelled at her or fought with her..
Yet she hid the birthday gift I gave her in my house knowing that a week after I return from India, I will take the towels from the linen cupboard on Tuesday and will find the painting. She knew I will be upset knowing that she didn’t want to take my gift.

May be she is acting the last stage in All the world is a stage..
But for me this is it.
I am done with her..
It is time for me to run.. (AGAIN) Change my phone, change my address and vanish from the face of the earth!