写妈妈的英语作文4篇 作文初一【经典20篇】

Recently, I was so shocked by the news that a young boy died of violence

after his parents sent him to a private school. The slogan of the private school

was to help parents correct kids bad behaviors. A lot of parents choose to send

their kids here after they giving up educating their kids. The public blamed the

parents for not educating their children in the right way. There is no doubt

that the root of kids problems come from family. Many parents always force the

children to do what they want and ignore the kids feelings, so they will go

against the elders thoughts. Finally, the parents lose temper. The elder should

show respect to the kids. Communication can solve the problem. When the children

receive love and understanding from parents, they will be nice persons.

“世上只有妈妈好，有妈的孩子像块宝……”这首歌回荡在耳边。

因为我是住宿生，所以每个星期一要返校，这不，今天又该返校了。我起得很早，想和妈妈聊会儿天，和母亲在一起的时间总是短暂的，我该离开了。我“砰”地一声关上了门。这声音很大很大。我不禁想：妈妈听到关门的声音，心里会是什么感觉，母亲这一星期又是否会想我？想着想着，我回想起，我和妈妈在一起的快乐时光；回想起妈妈在我生病时对我无微不至的照顾；回想起我犯错误时，妈妈那严厉的眼神，我的眼眶湿了……

以前，每天上学的时候，总会听见妈妈的声音：“天凉了，穿厚点”“下雨了别忘了带雨伞”“多喝点水”……你也许会觉得她唠叨，和我一样，认为她是一个唠叨的妈妈。

可是，在我住校以后，我多么渴望妈妈每天在我耳边“唠叨”，但是，不可能了。妈妈应该说是这个世界上最爱我们的人，我们在妈妈的肚子里生活了十个月，妈妈艰难的把我们生出来。我们应该感谢妈妈。

你也许觉得她唠叨，这是关心你的表现；你也许觉得她严厉，这是希望你成才的表现；你也许觉得她吝啬，这是她要你养成节俭习惯的表现……

“妈妈”，这是个多么美丽的字眼，在这个字眼下，她又该付出多少辛苦，她用一生换我们一生“妈妈”。

妈妈，谢谢您！

[初一写人作文500字: 妈妈，谢谢您

在这世界上，最温暖的地方，不是柔软的被窝，而是母亲的怀抱。

自我呱呱坠地以来，母亲就尝尽辛酸，尝尽苦头，挑起养育我的担子，从不曾有半句怨言。

当我生病时，着急的不是我本身，而是我亲爱的母亲。她会终日守在病床旁无微不至地照顾我。当我痊愈时，母亲也消瘦了。啊!母亲是我生病时最亲切、最关怀我的护士。

当我做错事情时，母亲便会用她那明亮的双眼直瞪着我，使我不敢正视她，因为我明白，母亲这样瞪着我，是在告诫我下次别再犯同样的错误。啊!妈妈的眼睛是对我忠视的警告。

在我失败时，是母亲以一双温暖的手将我从失败的魔掌中扶起来，鼓励我继续努力，不可灰心。所以，我做事不曾半途而废，也从未因失败而气馁，因为，母亲曾教育我“失败是成功之母”。

当我临出门上学时，母亲会以亲切的口吻劝我过马路得小心，上课不可心不在焉。啊!母亲的劝导是我一生的座右铭。

在我做某件事成功的当儿，母亲便会劝我不可骄傲，要再接再励，所以我不曾为一点小成而就骄傲，因为母亲曾教我自满是成功的敌人。

The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Years Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before. For Buddhists, the first day is also the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva (better known as the more familiar Budai Luohan), the Buddha-to-be. People also abstain from killing animals.

Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers.

While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards, which have resulted in increased number of fires around New Years and challenged municipal fire departments work capacity. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain premises of the city. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience.

I have a loving mom. Here, I use the "language camera" to take her photo it!

She has a pair of big eyes, double eyelids. Slightly tilted under the nose there is a harsh mouth, not tall. Mothers hand is very rough, because my father travel on the outside, housework done by the mother. Such as: cleaning, washing clothes, etc., her hand how will not become rough? However, the hands of rough it does not matter, when her hands gently stroked me asleep, the same will bring me warm, let me Gradually into sleep.

Usually my mother is very concerned about my learning method. No matter how busy, my homework she will seriously check, I will not do the subject she will patiently teach me. If the homework is sloppy, she often reminds me that it is more careful to me. She comfort me: "In fact, you are very good, get rid of this problem, even more well." Listen to my mother, I secretly determined, we must correct this careless bad habits. Summer vacation, my mother know that I study very tired, took me to travel, growth knowledge, I have learned a lot of knowledge outside.

Because I love my mother, so I know my mother, my mother is so meticulous care about me, I have a good mother for me and feel proud.

Christmas Day-December 25-which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ， the founder of the Christian religion， is the biggest and best-loved holiday in the United States.

According to the Bible， the holy book of Christians， God decided to allow his only son， Jesus Christ， to be born to a human mother and live on earth so that people could understand God better and learn to love God and each other more. "Christmas"- meaning "celebration of Christ "- honors the time when Jesus was born to a young Jewish woman Mary.

Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph， a carpenter， but before they came together， she was found to be with child. Because Joseph， her husband， was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace， he had in mind to p>

Although the exact date of the birth of Jesus nearly 2，000 years ago is not known， the calendar on the supposed date p>

圣诞节只是基督徒庆祝其信仰的耶稣基督(jīdū)诞生的庆祝日。圣诞节的庆祝与基督教同时产生，被推测始于西元1世纪。很长时间以来圣诞节的日期都是没有确定的，因为耶稣确切的出生日期是存在争议的，除了《新约》以外，没有任何记载提到过耶稣;《新约》不知道日期，当然就没有人知道确切日期了。在西元后的头三百年间，耶稣的生日是在不同的日子庆祝的。西元3世纪以前的作家们想把圣诞日定在春分日上下。直到西元3世纪中期，基督教在罗马合法化以后，西元354年罗马主教指定儒略历12月25日为耶稣诞生日。现在的圣诞节日期跟西元纪年的创制是密不可分的。

西元纪年创制于西元5世纪，后来圣诞节这一天就按格里高利历法，即西元纪年的“公历”来确定了，而日历按着假定日期把时间分为公元前(耶稣基督诞生前)和公元后(A. D. 是拉丁文缩写，意思是“有了我们主--耶稣的年代”)。后来，虽然普遍教会都接受12月25日为圣诞节，但又因各地教会使用的历书不同，具体日期不能统一，

When I was a child,Friendshipis a box of watercolors, graffiti with tender hands out the smiling faces of the innocent colorful, inadvertently wet the paste, oh, its ok to draw a better, more real. Childhood friendship is like a warm fire, are unscrupulous argue, is each other in anger pursed lips, plunder the parcel together sweet popcorn... Friendship is a big candied fruit, whenever taste, are gay. Thats childhood friendship, is one of the crown, naive for jewelry, do tassel romance - so beautiful so pure. This is only the blue sky belongs to the childhood friendship, friendship forever.

Grow up, friendship is a piece of transparent glass, light the lonely heart failure. Broken, is hard to together, can only hide in a corner crying silently, quietly wake up... Where fall where it on their own strong to climb up, thats our footprints of growing up.

小时候，友谊是一盒水彩笔，用稚嫩的手涂鸦出一张张五彩缤纷天真无邪的笑脸，一不小心湿了糊了，哦，没关系再画一张更好更真切的。儿时的友谊像一团热烈的火，是肆无忌惮的争辩，是互相赌气撅起的嘴，是共同哄抢的那一大包甜甜的爆米花……友谊是个大大的蜜饯，无论何时尝起，都是美滋滋的。那是童年时的友谊，是一项皇冠，天真为珠宝，烂漫做流苏——那么美丽那么纯真。这是只属于童年那片蔚蓝色天空的友谊——友谊地久天长。

长大了，友谊是一块透明的玻璃，照亮着失败落寞的心。打破了，就很难再拼凑起来，只能躲在一个角落默默地哭泣，默默地醒悟……在哪里跌倒的就在哪里靠自己坚强地爬起来，那是我们成长的足迹。

What a colorful world of the fall,this is a credit to the leaves,they have

red and green,the autumn dress up like a large garden.

Red maple leaves,like palms,just five piece children.Leaves a small number

of prominent teeth,the base of the heart-shaped,dark green to dark green above

to below the axillary vein has hair sense,the edge is also trimmed with lace

irregular.Bark grayish brown,with the old growth,the surface grooves and

scales.Maple leaves,autumn brings a festive and warm.

Holly tree is the symbol of vitality,crown thriving,flourish.Leaves

oval,pointed at both ends,like the two tilt of the boat.Stem and leaf surface

veins is very clear,long from bottom to top,from coarse to fine.The front of

dark green leaves,very smooth,negative light green,because there are many

prominent veins and coarse stems.Holly leaves have wavy lines on the edge of the

same jagged,but not scratchy.

The campus,red maple,holly green,a passionate,full of vitality,this is

really the mental outlook of our young pioneers it!I love autumn,I love the fall

on campus.

Hello! My name is Lv Jiayin. I’m twelve years old. I am study in Henan Hongli School in China. There are four people in my family: My father, my mother, my sister and I.

My father is an office worker. He works in an office. He is very tough and strict. But he has many friends. He’s very kind. But the standard he sets for me is very high. But I love him very much. I know he is strict with me because he loves me.

My mother is an office worker, too. But she is different from my father. She is very gentle. She likes cooking very much. She cooks for us. Every day I can eat different delicious food. In my opinion, she is the most beautiful mother in the world.

My sister is very young. She is only 5 years old. But she is a student, too. Because she is very lovely and bright, we all like her very much. She often gets in trouble. I have to help her every time.

Look! This is my family, a happy and vibrant family. Do you like it? I think it is a happiest family. I love it very much.

第一篇

To tell you the truth, I dont like the Spring Festival at all. When I was young I liked it very much,because I could had something tasty to eat during the Spring Festival,and I could enjoy very wonderful TV programmes,too. I also could had much free time during which I could did something I liked to do. I dont like it now, there are many reasons.

说实话，我一点都不喜欢春节。不过我年轻的时候，我非常喜欢，因为我可以在春节吃到美味佳肴，我可以享受到非常精彩的电视节目。我还可以有很多自由时间来做我喜欢做的事情。现在我不喜欢了，有许多理由。

Firstly, I cant have a good time during the Festival. Every New Years Eve something unpleasant often happens. Once I quarreled with my second brother.

首先，在节日期间我玩得不开心。每年除夕夜总有不愉快的事发生。有一次我跟我的二弟吵架。

Secondly, I cant relax myself during the Festival. I have to do many things, watch so many TV programmes, meet so many people,all these things make me very tired.

其次，在节日期间我自己无法得到放松。我要做很多事情，看很多的电视节目，见很多的人，所有这些都让我感到很累。

Thirdly, spending one Spring Festival means that I become one year older. I dont like to be old. I want to live longer and be young all the time.

第三，度过一个春节意味着我又老一岁了，我不喜欢老。我想活得更久，并且永远年轻。

Readers, what is your opinions about the Spring Festival? Please tell us, we can share our opinions. Thanks for reading! Goodbye.

读者们，你有什么关于春节的想法吗?请告诉我们，我们可以分享我们的想法。感谢您的阅读!再见。

第二篇

My Spring Festival is special. My uncle and my aunt came back from Shanghai. My family were very happy to keep the Spring Festival with them. And it was the most exciting festival of all the festivals.

我的春节很过得特别,我的叔叔阿姨重上海回来.我们家的人十分高兴可以和他们过春节.这是我最兴奋的一次春节。

On New Years Eve, my father and my uncle talked about their work together. My mum did some cooking with my aunt Grandparents and I watched the New Year TV programmes. At about six oclock, we had a special family dinner. We all thought the dumplings were delicious.

在新年的前夕(除夕夜)，我的父亲和我的叔父上一起谈论他们的工作。我妈和我的伯母和祖父母起做饭，而且我看了新年电视节目。 在大约六点钟，我们有了一份特别的家庭晚餐。 我们全部认为饺子很可口。

On the first day of the New Year, we visited our relatives. In the afternoon, we went shopping in Jiefang Road. My uncle bought some Jays CDs. He likes Jays music very much. There were so many people on the road. It was more alive than any other time of a year.

在新年的第一天，我们拜访了我们的亲戚。 午后，我们在解放路逛街。 我的叔父买了一些周杰伦的唱碟。 他非常喜欢周杰伦的音乐。 道路上很多人。

On the second and the third days, we spent a wonderful weekend in the country. There were much bigger trees than in the city. And the animals were more beautiful than in the city. We all enjoyed ourselves.

在第二、三天里，我们度过了一个好周末。有比较大的树比较在城市中。而且动物比在城市中更美丽。 我们玩得好高兴。

My mother is a nurse. She loves her job and devotes herself to it. Last month she went to Beijing to fight agai t SARS. My mother didnt go back home until more than one month later. But I mi ed her very much. I knew she tried her best to protect us from SARS. I love my mother and I feel proud of her.

How lovely my mother is! My mother is a nurse. In those dangerous days last month, she went to Beijing to fight agai t SARS. She tried her best to protect us from SARS. She had worked there for more than one month. I love my mother and feel proud of her.

Im a tall and lively boy. I like playing basketball very much because its interesting. I like NBA, too. There are many famous stars in it. Such as Alan, Iveson, Tim, Donken, Jordan, Kobe, ONeal and so on. Yao Ming is in the NBA, too. Hes Chinese. He plays basketball well. Hes a center forward. Hes our pride. All the ball stars can jump, shoot and pour in the basket. So each game of the NBA is wonderful. Sometimes the players can perform miracles, I think.

This years champion is Spur Team. It’s one of the strongest contenders.

I like NBA. I love basketball.

妈妈剪短发了

我的妈妈身材苗条，个头较高，一头乌黑的长发，远远望去仿佛一条倾泻下来的瀑布，再配上妈妈那张甜甜的笑脸显得更温柔，更美丽了。可后来妈妈却把那长长的秀发剪短了，许多人都说妈妈变丑了。

爱美是人的天性，妈妈为什么要忍痛割爱，把她十几年来精心呵护的秀发剪短了呢？那是因为在我上幼儿园时，每天妈妈都要送我。一到幼儿园我总是不让妈妈回去上班，但妈妈为了我能从小受到良好的教育，过上丰富多彩的集体生活，只好“狠心”地把我交给老师。当时我总是使出我最拿手的本领——紧紧揪住妈妈的长发不放。因为妈妈的长发一直垂到臀部，我一伸小手便可以揪住，不管妈妈怎样哄，我都不放手，妈妈常常没有办法脱身，只好把我带回家。后来为了我，妈妈竟拿起剪刀，“咔嚓”一声把长长的秀发剪了一截，只留到腰间，我也就不能揪住妈妈的头发了，妈妈就可以脱身了，把我留在幼儿园里。时间一长，我也就习惯了，从此过上了天真有趣的幼儿园生活，小脸蛋上也天天挂着灿烂的笑容。

时间过得真快，一转眼我又上了一年级了。这就意味着我是“正规军”了，每天都要按学校的规章制度去做，这可苦了我的妈妈了。每天早上妈妈最早起床，做了香喷喷的早餐，并一口一口地喂给我吃，然后帮我仔细地搭起衣服、鞋和袜子，把我打扮得整整齐齐、漂漂亮亮，简直像个“小帅哥”，让我天天都有个好心情去读书、去交流。

这时妈妈为了每天早上能多挤出梳理头发的那几分钟来照顾我，妈妈再一次毅然拿起剪刀把头发又剪了一截，留下平肩头，只要用橡皮筋一扎就可以，非常省时省事，但不那么好看。

今年，我上了四年级，妈妈说我的功课加重了，每天除了持之以恒地把我打扮得漂漂亮亮、与众不同外，更加重视我的早餐，不仅量增加了，品种也丰富了。这就需要更多的精力和时间，妈妈仅仅为了能再挤出早上扎头所用的那一分钟，竟然又再一次拿起剪刀把头发剪成一个不能再短的“日本”头了。这种发型根本就不必花时间去梳理，任它自然“发展”。在妈妈的精心呵护下，我的身体更加强壮了，学习也不断进步，常常受到老师的夸奖。

虽然妈妈的头发越来越短了，但妈妈给予我的母爱越来越深，越来越浓，妈妈那缕缕秀发中含着伟大的母爱。有的人说我妈妈剪短发变丑了，但我现在觉得妈妈更迷人、更可敬了。我真想对全世界的人大声地说：“我妈妈是世界上最漂亮、最伟大的好妈妈！”

When I lived in my hometown, I liked raining so much, because sometimes I could see the rainbow, it is so beautiful and attractive. I remembered the first time when I saw the rainbow. It was a stuffy afternoon, when I took a nap, I heard it rained, but there was sunshine in the sky. After an hour, the rain stopped. I walked out of my house and took a look at the sky, I saw a long colorful bridge in the sky. It appeared clearly, so close to me, it seemed that I could walk it to the sky. Now I live in the city, but I never see such beautiful rainbow again. The citys buildings cover the sky.

My cousin is only five years old. She comes to my house every weekend. We like her very much. Though she is very young she has ideas of her own. She says she wants to invite a fairy to help my mother to clean the kitchen. She prefers to be a super model. So she keeps on learning English and practising walking every day. Last week her mother told her to sleep in my bed. Half an hour later, she didnt fall asleep. Her mother was very angry. Then I went into the room, and asked whether she had slept. She closed her eyes tightly and said "Yes".

Shes such a naughty and clever girl.

[初一英语作文推荐： My Cousin

世间万物都有他的生日，一株小草他的生日是从是从地里冒出新芽的时候，抑制消极的生日是他破蛋而出的时候，一个国家的生日是宣布它成立的时候，生日人人都有，有的人的生日过得平淡，有的人的生日过得惊喜。

游历在世间，你卡为了某个人生日筹划过？我，就策划过。慈母手中线，有子身上衣。这一句话让我懂得了母亲的伟大，我决心要为母亲筹划生日，我要为母亲亲手做一顿饭。但是，我不会做啊，所以我在妈妈做饭时偷偷的学，妈妈做饭时，我在旁边看，这时，妈妈就会说："出去吧！别让油溅你一身，油滚烫滚烫的。烧伤你怎么办？赶紧出去吧！"可是我不会出去，我要为妈妈的生日努力。

我要尝试着做一顿饭。正好，这天妈妈不在家，我在厨房里开始行动，可是没想到，第一次切菜，就切住了自己的手指，一看到出血了，我敢尽止血，紧血中，我想放弃，可我却想到了：妈妈脸上的皱纹和头上的白发都是因为而长。那次，我遇到了数学上的难题，就跑去问妈妈，可妈妈说她不会，听到这句话，我满脸的沮丧，妈妈看到了我的沮丧，也动了我的不开心。夜幕降临，这道题还没解决，我急得像热锅上的蚂蚁，转眼间，十一点了，该睡觉。可这道题还没解决，妈妈叫我去睡觉，我也只能去睡觉。

晚上，我还因为这道题没有睡着，就去书房解到这题，可我却看到妈妈卧室的灯亮着，原来妈妈正在思考那道题，看到这个情景，我不禁泪流满面。想到这里，我又开始行动了。做的菜有的太咸了，有的太甜了，经过这次事情，我吸取了这次弱点，开始重新配料子。

妈妈的生日来到了，我提前准备好了。妈妈一出门，我就向她说生日快乐，妈妈听到这句话，激动起来。因为这是我第一次和她说生日快乐，然后我就又把更大的惊喜呈现给妈妈，这次的生日躲妈妈来说是惊喜的。

这次妈妈的生日是过的最精彩的，以后，我要多帮助妈妈做家务，不让母亲那麽辛劳。

I have a very good English teacher.My classmates and I all like her very much.She is very friendly to us.We all like to have English classes very much.

She is tall and beautiful.She looks like a middle school student.She has big eyes,a small nose,a small mouth and long black trousers.

Her name is Wang Yanjun.We often call her Miss Wang.She teaches English very well.In class ,she looks like our elder sister .She often helps us to solve problems.After class,she looks like our friend.We often play games together.

This is my English teacher.I love her and I love to study English,too.I believe my English will be better and better.

我有一个很好的英语老师。我和我的同学们都非常喜欢她。她对我们很友好。我们都很喜欢上英语课。

她又高又漂亮。她看起来像一个中学的学生。她有大眼睛,小鼻子,小嘴巴和长黑裤子。

她的名字叫王宿州农村。我们通常叫她王老师。她教英语很好。在课堂上,她看起来像我们的姐姐。她经常帮助我们解决问题。下课后,她看起来像我们的朋友。我们经常在一起玩游戏。

这是我的英语老师。我爱她,我爱学英语,太。我相信我的英语会越来越好。

初一暑期英语作文：A Present For Mother’s Birthday

A Present For Mother’s Birthday

Everyone should give his mother a present when his mother’s birthday is coming. It is 25th May Sunday. Today is Han Mei’s mother’s birthday. So she wanted to give her mother a special present. What present should she give? Maybe a bunch of flowers a birthday card are the best presents. A card is cheaper. But it is bad for trees. The more I buy cards, the more trees will be cut by people. So what another present should she give? Let me tell you this present.

It was five o’clock. It was time to surprise her mother. When Han Mei’s mother came home, Han Mei said Happy Birthday to her mother. Then she cleaned her mother’s feet. As you can see, her mother was very surprise.

Why do you think it was a good present?

The Jacksons spend their happy time on Sundays. They get up early in the morning. After breakfast, they go to church. There they meet a lot of people. They like to talk with them.

After they leave the church, the Jacksons go to the park. They go boating happily. Then it is time to have lunch. They have a picnic under the tree. After lunch the children begin to fly kites while the couples are fishing by the lake.

In the afternoon the children play on the lawn while Mr. and Mrs. Jockson are walking in the park. They enjoy themselves.

They spend almost the whole day in the park.

Look,this is my family .Its a small family .There are three people in my family,they are my father my mother and I.

My father is a engineer,he likes playing football and reading news paper.

My mother is a college teacher.She likes playing computer games and watching TV.She likes eating apples and pears.

Im a student in

a middle school.I am 13.I like playing tabletennis and reading books.I like eating ice-cream.My favourite colour is pink.

I have a dog. Its name is Mary.It is very lovely.I like it.

I have a very happy family.

1、I have bought food that I hope will please my mother, and that will be easy for her to eat: orzo salad with little pieces of crayfish cut into it, potato salad, small chunks of marinated tomatoes.

2、l have brought her a bouquet of crimson, yellow, and salmon-pink snapdragons. She likes the flowers very much.

3、 As I wipe my mothers face, I see that her skin is still beautiful I hold her chin in my hand and kiss her forehead.

My mother has no idea that her ninetieth birthday is coming up. She has no notion of the time of day, the day of the week. the season of the year, the year of the century. No notion of the approaching millennium. And no idea any longer, who I am. Her forgetting of me happened just a few months ago, after I had been traveling for more than a month and hadnt been to see her. When I came back, she asked me if I were her niece, l said no, I was her daughter. "Does that mean I had you?" she asked. 1 said yes. "Where was I when l had you?" she asked me. I told her she was in a hospital in Far Rockaway. New York. "So much has happened to me in my life." she said "You cant expect me to remember everything."

My mother was once a beautiful woman, but all her teeth are gone now. Toothless. No woman can be considered beautiful. Whenever I visit her in the nursing home, she is sitting at the table in the common dining room, her head in her hands, rocking. Medication has eased her anxiety, but nothing moves her from her stupor except occasional moments of fear, too deep for medication. This is a room that has no windows, that lets in no light, in which an overlarge TV is constantly blaring, sending images that no one looks at where the floors are beige tiles, the walls cream colored at the bottom, papered halfway up with a pattern of nearly invisible grayish leaves. Many of the residents sit staring, slack-jawed, open mouthed. I find it impossible to imagine what they might be looking at.

When I walk into the dining room on the day of my mothers birthday, I see that she has already been served lunch. The staff has forgotten to hold it back. Though I told them a week ago that I would be providing lunch. She hasn’t touched anything on her tray except a piece of carrot cake, which she holds in her hands. The icing is smeared on her hands and face. I dont want my friends to see her smeared with icing, so I wet a paper towel and wipe her. This fills me with a terrible tenderness, recalling, as it does. a gesture I have performed for my children. As I wipe my mothers face, I see that her skin is still beautiful I hold her chin in my hand and kiss her forehead. I tell her its her birthday, that shes ninety years old. "How did that happen?" she asks. "I cant understand how that could happen."

l have brought her a bouquet of crimson, yellow, and salmon-pink snapdragons. She likes the flowers very much. She likes the name. "Snapdragons. It seems like an animal thats going to bite inc. But its not an animal, its a plant. Thats a funny thing,"

I have bought food that I hope will please my mother, and that will be easy for her to eat: orzo salad with little pieces of crayfish cut into it, potato salad, small chunks of marinated tomatoes. I have bought paper plates with a rust-colored background, upon which are painted yellow and gold flowers and blue leaves.

My friends Nola and Gary come for my mothers birthday. When we are about to leave, I tell my mother that Im going on vacation, mat I wont see her for three weeks, that 1 am going to the sea. "How will I stand that, how will I stand thats she says, but I know that a minute after I’m gone shell forget I was there.