Fugitive Pieces

While watching the movie Fugitive Pieces, I was flooded with many different memories from my childhood.  One memory that struck me right away was a memory I have of my mother’s hands.  This memory came back to me during the movie when I saw the scene where Jacob was trying to explain to Ben that Ben’s father, Joseph, did feel pain about the holocaust and what he saw there.  Jacob explained that Joseph told him that every morning he would remember his parents and start to weep.  Joseph would remember his mother’s hands.  When Jacob told Ben about Joseph’s memories of his mother’s hands my heart dropped.  My mother died when I was six years old.  I don’t remember too much of her, which is very hard for me to say.  The one memory I do have of her that is still strong in my mind is an image of her hands.  Every morning before I would go to school, I would stand right by my mom, as she got ready for work.  As my mom would get ready for work I would admire her and I would always grab her hand to give me attention.  I would sit there and tug on her hand until she gave me attention and I would sometimes sit there and admire her hands.  I remember they were soft and her nails where always very well kept.  The one thing I noticed the most is that she always had a reddish hue to her skin.  I would ask her why her skin was red and she would answer with a simple “I don’t know” and a warm smile.  That memory is a very simple one, but it is very important to me and is very close to my heart.  I haven’t thought of the memory in a while, but Fugitive Pieces made me think of it again.