My mom lives in caps locked

by Lucinda Caldwell

 

Sometimes we need a holiday to celebrate someone or send notes of gratitude. On birthdays and Valentine's days, I always think to myself, “Why don’t we always celebrate like this?!?!?”  

Today I was writing something for work -- and it included a little celebration of my mom that I want to share here. 

4 minute read. 
Edited while listening to 'Mamma Song' by Cody Jinks.  

 

My parents say that when they would come to wake me up for school, I would wake up smiling. That’s partly where I got the idea for calling all of this “giddy by nature.”  







I also use a lot of emojis and caps locked IS A DEFAULT SETTING IN MY TEXTS.   The main edit I have to in my emails is deleting “!!!!!” to “!” or “.”  










I get it from my mom.  When my high school cross-country coach and I would run past my mom coaching boy’s third soccer, she’d flail both hands in the air to say hello to us from a distance. “One hand is just not enough for your mother,” my cross-country coach would joke.





 So, here's to you, mom! 




 


I grew up dodging piles of high school English papers and stacks of books to find my mom in her study. As a daughter of an English teacher, I learned grammar while eating Cheerios at the kitchen table.  I learned “show not tell” lessons while scratching my head at the family computer trying to write an essay on Shakespeare in 7th grade.


One of my favorite pieces of advice my mom gave me was how to find my voice, trust my voice, and use my observations to change the world for good. 


She taught me to follow my vocation; she taught me how to observe the world around me and carve out my place in it.  One of my favorite aspects of writing is observing the world around me and articulating experiences that resonate with other people. I practice storytelling in my career and in my personal life; through writing and through art, I connect with other people and discover parts of myself. I gather pieces of information from the world around me and articulate what makes that seemingly ordinary thing unique.  




She taught me how to find my voice in writing and how to find amazement in the world around me. One of my favorite things about my mom is the way she says "WOWOWOWOW!" to anything and everything.  She leads with her heart in caps locked, expressing her love for the world.   


As Mary Oliver says, 


“When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." 


 





  









    

  





  
    
    

      

        

          
2 comments


          

            
            

              
    
                
                

                
                  
  • 
                    

    
  
    I love this! Partly because I use exclamation points as much as you guys use caps lock. And partly because it reminds me how wonderful Darcy and you, Cinda, are. (That’s probably written incorrectly- English class was a long time ago!)❤️
    

    

    
  Betsy 
  

    

                  
    • 
                
                  
  • 
                    

    
  
    Cinda! This piece describes your mom exactly! Thank you for celebrating her.
    

    

    
  Stephanie
  

    

                  
    • 
                
              


              

            

          
        

      

    

  

  
  

    

      

        

          


Leave a comment




            


              

                
                
                
              


              

                
                
                
              


              

                
                
                
              


            


            

            
          

        

      

    

  





  
    
    Back to Writing to taste life twice