Today, or I should say this morning, was all about spending time with my mother. The calendar says Easter, and I know this is the day that Jesus rose from the dead, but for me this day is also synonymous with going to church with my mother. I enjoy the sermons every now and then, but I mainly go because it does her heart good to look to her right and see her first born. Ideally, my brother Jamal would be in the mix too, but he's married with child in Atlanta so he gets a pass(Jamal you owe me one). There is a distinct difference between the time I spend with my dad, and the time I spend with mom. My father is basically an older version of me as I documented yesterday, but my father also is a man at peace with all facets of his life(either that or he is a master of deception) My mother wears her emotions on her sleeve, and she requires a little more from me, and most of the time I oblige. Plus my mother is twice divorced and in her mid 50s, so the loneliness for her is a bit more obvious.

So this morning I woke up at 4:30 am in preparation for the 5:45 am sunrise, Easter service. I don't know how I woke up, and got myself together and I did. The sermon was just ok..ministers must be under tremendous pressure to deliver that master Easter sermon, especially this particular pastor, who said he was preaching at 5:45, 7:45, 11am and possibly at an evening service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. At one point in the sermon, he made a point to say that no other religion has a story involving a main figure dying and resurrecting like Christianity (which I dont know to be true). Then he proceeded to bring his point home by saying that Buddhist, Muslim and the Chinese religions(his terms not mine) could not say they had a resurrection story. I cringed when he said that because that type of speak reminded of conservative christian republicans, who always appear in an election year talking that same jive. You can champion your own religion without downing another..Anyway I'm off topic. The point was, the pastor could have been preaching with strippers on both arms, and I STILL would have been sleepwalking..in fact the first time I closed my eyes to pray, I barely got them back open, before the strong pull of sleep overtook my eyes.

After church, my mother and I went to have breakfast in the main hall of the church. I wanted to sit alone and isolated with her, she wanted to sit with some younger members of the congregation. So we sat near a nice married couple, and the wife's sister. The couple is newly married and expecting, so the man was looking like he had been drugged, and the wife was running her mouth like Barbara Walters had asked her questions. Then they broke out an ultrasound picture, which is always nice for the couple to look at, but for me, it meant nothing. In fact, the baby looked just like Emmett Till. There was evidence of eyes, nose, etc but it was faint, but I smiled and said oh how nice. Then my mother broke out her pictures of me, my brother and our kids..also included in the pics was a picture of my son's mother. You should have seen the look on every one's face when they saw she was white. At first I felt like I should explain that I no longer date white women, and then I was like man forget that, whose to say that I won't date one in the future, so let me shut up. I don't have to explain jack to these people..but I did give my mother a look like you just had to show this didn't you. But that's what mothers do..they are proud of you, so they embarrass you. Its in their handbook to do so.

Right now, my mother is at the 7:45 service, and I had to bail and come back to her house. Two services in one day is just ridiculous, and its overkill like a mug. Now I love my mother, and I am proud of her, and you'd be hard pressed to hear me bad mouth her..we just are VERY different, and it is a bit of a challenge to find that common ground, whereas my dad and I stay on the same wavelength. But the love is the same regardless.

By the way, I saw WAY more cleavage in church today than I did at the bar on Friday night. It's more arousing to see it in church though..you see a woman with a bible in her hand, and a few inches above that, you see the hint of big beautiful breasts just begging to released for the cruel captivity of a bra..or in some cases a demi bra....and yeah I said it.