A TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER:I Really Was Paying Attention;

Part 2

I was the youngest of four until my little brother came along in 1961. It was a “gravy train” for me as the baby for seven years. The years between my younger brother and me, was the longest time between children for my mom, so I probably got the best deal as a small child. Some of my earliest memories, which start at about two years of age, are of being in church. I know I was small because I remember being passed around as people held me and had their faces close to mine. Church would be a huge part of our lives until we were grown, and for some of us children continues to be.

As a child, I remember taking vacations with four children in the car – not a one of us wearing a seatbelt. For those of us old enough to remember, this was more the norm than the exception. It was the 1950s and we also had metal dashboards. As the youngest at the time, I would spend much of the trip lying in the back window of our sedan. What a wonderful view of the stars from that space - those were the days.


[The camera never did my mother justice; I think this is the best photo of me ever taken; seriously, I love this photo of Mom and me].

Even though we lived in a small town and to my recollection, never knew of anyone “uppity”, our mother taught us impeccable manners. She taught us to set a table “properly” and to use proper manners at the table, which fork to use, etc. although at the time, I couldn’t imagine that this would ever be any more useful than algebra. Thanks Mom.

My Mom never wavered in her church attendance, – nor did ours. In the earlier years I remember my father going to church with us, but that waned and then stopped. As I grew up my Mother wore many hats at church: Sunday school teacher, Choir Director, and Youth Director. It was a small church, but very active. As a teenager, I felt it was too active. Let me just say, there was a lot of church going on. It was still my mom’s foundation for everything in
her life; I had no idea at the time how this would serve her later.

Mother was an incredible cook, and I owe my ability in the kitchen to her. It was remarkable how she could make a delicious meal when someone with less ability, would think there was nothing to cook. When she was finally an “empty nester” she went back to school for pastry studies and cake decoration. She was a working mom for my last 10 or so years at home, and continued after we were all grown to work full time, and to be very active in church. One of her great loves was teaching the young about God and encouraging them to serve Him.

As outgoing as my mother was, she was an intensely private person. It was not that she had anything to hide; it was just that she would be the one to decide how much of herself she shared with you. I got that trait from my mother. She didn’t have a particularly easy life in many ways, and I don’t believe she ever rebounded emotionally from her parent’s divorce or her protective nature toward her siblings. Her mother passed away in 1976 and she sang a beautiful song with her mother’s coffin close by her. She managed to do this while wondering – even doubting that her mother ever acknowledged the existence of God. This was crushing to her. There were no public tears. My mother was a strong woman indeed.