I had lunch with a friend today. Her mother passed away a year ago today. I still have my mother. My husband's mother died 6 years ago (this December it will be 7). Knowing this makes me appreciate that I still have my mother. A mother - daughter relationship can be complicated. . . . sometimes my relationship with my mom can be difficult. . . we can each make each other crazy. But for the most part, I am glad that I have the mother that I have. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for her.

My mother and I are very different people. She is very self disciplined, can be very understanding of people and their problems, super organized, creative, and critical. I am not very self disciplined, not very judgemental, have no creativity what so every, and can be very superficial.

One afternoon, my mother and I are at Mimi's. We are having dinner. She is constantly on my case about my weight. She is about 5'2" and weighs about 112-120. She walks 2 miles every day and then goes to these exercise classes for seniors. . . . anyway. . . we're having dinner and of course the subject is my weight. She asks me, "don't you think about your weight before you eat the slice of cheesecake?"

"No, I just think, yum and eat the cheesecake."

"Well, what about exercise, why don't you exercise?" she asks.

Without skipping a beat, I reply, "Because it's not fun."

She looks at me with astonishment. She says, "Well of course it's not fun, you're just supposed to do it."

Well, that's one of the major differences between my mom and myself. I do things because they are fun. She does things because you are supposed to. I eat the cheesecake because it tastes good. My mother eats an apple and drinks lots of water because she is supposed to.

I would say that we are both happy people. I like the way I am living my life and she likes the way she is living her life. I want my daughter to be happy. My mother knows that I am happy. . . she just believes that I can be happier if I lose the weight. . . and she is probably right.