Like My Mom

You know, I have found in the last year or two, that the older I get (I know, I'm still young, and I feel young) the more I become like my mother. At least in some ways. There are a lot of ways I wish I could be like her and fall short more often than I would like....However, that odd phenomenon-- of when you say something and  you swear it was your mother's voice and not your own--yeah that's been happening to me lately. And it's a little creepy, not a bad creepy, just kind of weird.

One day while I was at work (this was when I was home for the summer after my freshman year of college, I believe), I get a call shortly before it was time for me to come home. It's my younger sister.

"Jill?"
"Yes?"
"Don't mention anything about birds to mom, ok?"
"Ok....that's random. I don't usually just go around talking about birds, but ok."
"Mom found a bird that was dying in our yard today, and took it to the vet. The vet couldn't do anything for the bird, and just put it down so it wouldn't suffer any more. ANd Mom's really upset about it. She keeps crying."
"Ok. I see. Poor Mom, she's so tender hearted."

Ok so I go home and quietly eat my dinner at the kitchen table while my mom is washing dishes at the sink. I don't say ANYTHING at all. Just quietly eating my dinner, and Mom bursts into tears.

"Mom, are you ok?" (Mom doesn't usually cry very often so this is kind of unusual.)
"I just wanted him to fix the bird. I told him I would pay him for it. I didn't care how much it cost. I just wanted him to fix the bird."
"Mom, Amber said the bird was hurt too badly to fix."
"He could have tried."

I don't really know what to say, but just get up and awkwardly pat her on the back. Most tender-hearted person who will ever meet.
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Fast forward to this summer. One day out in the backyard, we found a snake. Just a little garter snake. Katie  named it Petunia, and every couple days would spend some time trying to find it again, but we haven't seen it since that one day.
Until Justin was mowing the lawn this week. I will spare you the details since you might have a tender heart like my mother..... or me...
I was making dinner, and that is THE. MOST. STRESSFUL. part of every day for me...I rush around and get crazy focused on just getting something to the table...Justin comes in and starts to tell me about Petunia's fate. 
"Please, don't tell me. I don't want to hear about it."
He makes one more comment about it, and I am in tears, but still rushing around the kitchen like a crazy woman.
"Please, please don't tell me about it." I'm balling now, and Justin knows it's time to exit and leave me to my dinner preparations. And while I am standing there crying over a non-pet-I have only seen you once in my life-snake, memory waves of my mother crying over a random bird while washing her dishes come drifting into my mind. I had to smile through my tears. Like mother, like daughter.