Ripped from the headlines

The other day I got a letter from my mom in the mail. Yes, my mother still sends me handwritten letters in the mail. She does not email, text or tweet. I think we may still have a rotary phone in the basement. So in these e-days of lightening fast messages, I was very excited to get snail mail that was not a bill.

I poured myself a glass of diet coke sat at the kitchen table and got ready to read my letter.  I smiled as I noticed the little handmade hearts on the back of the envelope. As I opened the letter out fell newspaper clippings (at least 10 of them) and one coupon for 20% off at bed bath and beyond.

What is this? Who still cuts things out from the newspaper? Who still reads real newspapers? When I lived at home, my mom always loved to cut things out from the newspaper before any of us even got a chance to read it! That explains why growing up we were never up on our current events. She always managed to cut out the most important parts of the story. I scanned across the headlines: Will Drinking Diet Coke Increase your Risk of a Heart Attack? Diet Coke Links to higher risk for Strokes? Diet Coke is Poison?

She was at it again. After years of telling me to get off diet soda, she was now sending me bits of mutilated newspaper to scare me. Underneath the headlines of each article, she might as well have written “I told you so.” And when she really wants to get her point across she highlights or underlines!

Well I guess the seed was planted in my head and few weeks ago I finally decided to go cold turkey. I traded in my diet coke for bottled water. The first person I wanted to share this with was my mom.  So last week I called her and gave her the great news.  I told her about my diet coke detox and I waited for the praise and encouragement. Her reply was “Just a week? weren’t you supposed to stop months ago? I just mailed you a new study…..”

Yes I complained about it and made fun of her for her nagging. But the truth is I loved her for doing it and as a mother now myself I understood why she did it. I am always worrying about my kids eating well and what they are eating. In my usual hurried morning rush as I attempt to eat some breakfast I can hear her voice saying “just once I would like to see you sitting down when you eat.”

I guess I should let her know that while I complain and laugh at her tactics I really do appreciate everything she does for me. So I reach over to grab the phone, nah, I think I’ll mail her a letter….