My Midnight Mother

It was a strong hot summer day, bright and clear. I watched my mom with her soft smooth dark summer tanned skin walk around the Fair with an icy soda. She was always beautiful even when I was growing up, she was now getting a bit more excited as the evening came on starting to cool the Fair grounds down in that crisp sweet smelling way that it does in August. I had come to the Fair on my day off to hang out with my mother and 3 younger brothers. Even my sister had pop over with her baby girl, then left later in the afternoon. We had seen animal shows, went on rides and ate greasy food. Usually we bought food we all could share and get to taste more that way. My mother with her barbie doll legs was the only person at the fair that day who actually looked Good in shorts! I was amazed at how energized mom was talking and laughing and looking for fun fair things to do. She had her brown curly hair laying against her shoulders as I noticed some tiny parts of gray blending out around her face. "Oooh Shoot! That line was shorter a minuet ago!" She said after drinking her soda down watching the lines of people for the carnival rides. I chuckled as I held the hand of my youngest brother he and I had just exited a fun ride to find our mother staying in lines for the next time we wanted to go on. She never really rode on the rides but she loved drinking her icy sodas waiting in a spot for us. On a cheap wrist band day she wanted us to get "Our money's worth" a common line she always used. Mom also had perfectly groomed feet for her sandals on fair day. I liked joining up with my family to ride along with my brothers making it four of us so we could always sit next to each other. I lived in town with my husband and he always sent a little extra money down for my brothers to spend. Maybe because of the 20 year age difference but I kinda felt like an Aunt to my brothers at times. We ate down an ice cream potato as it got evening, the boys and I were feeling wiped out after the whole day at the Fair but our mother was lively. We watched her in awe and with smirks on our faces as she exclaimed "It's not LATE we can't go until midnight, I want to stay till the place closes down." I looked surprised as she smiled big and proud. "Why do you want to do that?" I asked feeling like 9pm was to late for me. The boys were giggling and shaking their heads "no". Mom snorted "Because I can! Because it is summer time and I feel like I could stay up ALL night!" I was laughing now for seeing my mother like this wasn't normal. But I liked it, I liked seeing her happy and goofy. The boys and I had to run to catch up with her as she blazed the Fair in the glow of the night full of lights and scream from the thrilling rides. We ate more ice cream bars and watched music concerts, mom was alive on the move and on the go to stay till closing. While the rest of us were dragging more and more. Mom was chatty, was teasing us for not keeping up with her and was just really loving the cool summer night. It was almost midnight when I finally said I had to go that I couldn't stay awake up longer. Mom looked surprised "You still have a half hour.....then it is Midnight! Come on You are younger then me and I am not slowing down at all!" She had such a big grin that I laughed out loud in my reply "YES we know! We can't even keep up walking around with you!" The boys and I agreed so Mom sighed "Well then I guess we can leave together...It might take that long just to find our cars." I smiled shaking my head at my Midnight Mother who was determined to stay till the Fair closed down!