A Call From My Mom Had Me Hunting For My WSU Cougar Bobblehead From My Aunt Mike

My mom called me a couple minutes ago to let me know they are heading north in the morning, heading to Tacoma for a wedding, with a stop in Bend, Oregon, on the way.

The stop in Bend is to see my Aunt Mike, my mom's baby sister, who we were all shocked to learn, this past year, has Alzheimer's.

Aunt Mike has always been the healthiest, most robust of my aunts and uncles.

And the funniest.

Aunt Mike ran marathons. I remember being at Gasworks Park, in Seattle, in the early 1990s, in a heavy rain, to watch Aunt Mike complete a marathon the day before the I-90 floating bridge sank.

I last saw Aunt Mike on August 11 of 2001, at my mom and dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party. I drove solo, back to Washington, for this, with no one but my two oldest nephews knowing I was coming.

No one knows I am coming north for this latest family event. Because, I don't think I am.

I'd mentioned to my mom, previously, that my cousin Kurt, he being Aunt Mike's only kid, told me Aunt Mike still likes going to McDonald's.

So, mom told me she had a cute McDonald's Bobblehead for Aunt Mike.

I then told mom I still had a Washington State University Cougars Bobblehead that Aunt Mike gave me decades ago, when she went to WSU.

That Cougar Bobblehead went with me when I went to college, and has followed me all the places I have gone since, including Texas.

After I got off the phone, with my mom, I went hunting for my Aunt Mike Cougar Bobblehead. I found it, Googled McDonald's Bobbleheads and took the picture you see above.

It is going to be interesting to see if Aunt Mike recognizes my mom. This will be the first time since Aunt Mike has had Alzheimer's that she will be being visited by someone who she has known as long as she has had a memory.