Memories of My Mother

Knock Out Rose 
from our front yard

Today is my mother's 100th birthday. I am sharing some of my memories of her and will conclude with the tribute my sister posted on Facebook.

Sister (left), Mama, me
probably around 2014

Mama's birthday on May 10th often coincided with Mother's Day. I don't remember what I did while still living in my parent's home, but as an adult I would send her a gift and a card for each of those days because it wasn't her fault that her birthday landed on a holiday. 

Since I've known her all of my life and I'm no spring chicken myself, there are a lot of memories I could share. But I'll narrow it down to just a few.

Mama took a home nursing course when I was probably about 4 or 5 years old. She attended the classes with our next door neighbor. I don't know specifically what she learned, but clearly she wanted to know how to handle the illnesses, mishaps, and emergencies that can come up when raising a family. 

The summer after I completed kindergarten, my father's new career in aviation moved us from Oklahoma to the New York City area where he was a co-pilot flying out of LaGuardia. Culturally, it was a hard transition for Mama and me (my sister, well, she is younger than me, so I don't think it affected her as much). Tulsa to Long Island in the mid-1950s -- that was a lot of change!

One morning in my first grade class, I vomited all over myself (most likely from nerves) and ended up in the nurse's office. Mama was called. She came as quickly as she could, bringing clean clothes. I have never forgotten that she brought a red skirt, a white T-shirt and a red scarf to tie around my neck. Mama said the scarf was so I would feel pretty in spite of feeling sick. 

a popular style in the 1950s

After just a couple months of coping with East Coast culture, Daddy took the opportunity over Thanksgiving weekend to relocate us to upstate New York to a small town along the Erie Canal (but within an hour's drive of the airport in Buffalo, where he would now fly). This proved to be a little less of a change from the life we had in Oklahoma. But there was no avoiding having to cope with shockingly deep snow and freeze-your-bootie cold temperatures as well as the lack of family living even remotely close by.

A lot of change was going on in my young life. Still in the first grade, by my 7th birthday I was in my third elementary school. On my birthday that year, I wore a green plaid wool skirt to school and was looking forward to the tradition of sharing cupcakes with my class that afternoon. 

However, that morning I again upchucked all over myself! Mama made the trip to school to rescue me for the same reason for the second time that year. This time she took me home to change and after lunch I returned to class. My miraculous recovery was surely due in large part in my desire to share those cupcakes with my class.

In addition to my mother's compassion for physical ailments, she also became, by default, the one to teach me how to read. Changing school districts from one end of the state to the other, the lesson plans for reading instruction were not the same. At the second school we quickly realized I was sorely behind. Mama worked with me at home during Christmas break and got me on track with my class.

I know she was terribly homesick for Oklahoma, where she had lived all of her life with lots of family in town. With Daddy's job flying for the airlines taking him away from home, adjusting to so much change was very hard. Surely having to cope with my frailties in all of that was no help but perhaps served as a distraction. She stepped up to the plate and handled it well.

Eventually Daddy's job would transfer us to Southern California, British Columbia, New Jersey, back to Oklahoma, and then to Denver. Mama learned to be resilient. After Denver they moved on to Chicago (I did not go with them). She knew Illinois as "home" for the last 54 years of her life.

Lennon Sisters sing I Remember Mama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nifym3G7OKw

My love for sewing and singing comes from my mother. She was very good with both. She sewed most of the clothes for Sister and me and we girls learned to sing alto from our mother. While Sister did not enjoy sewing, we both followed the example of Mama by singing in church youth choirs, music classes at school, and watching the Lennon Sisters on the Lawrence Welk show. We both also got a formal secretarial education after high school, again following the influence of our mother. (Sister went on after that to get a 4-year university degree and to become a radio announcer with a focus on rock'n roll oldies, but that's another story for another blog post. 🎶😊)

Of the greatest importance is the fact that my mother led me to know Jesus when I was very young, 6 years old. She was teaching a children's Sunday School class with the use of flannel graph. (if you are interested and don't know what that is, click on the highlighted link.) She wanted to practice telling her Bible story and asked me if I wanted to watch, which I did. 

By the time the story had come to an end, I knew I needed to have a relationship with the Lord. My mother helped me to pray about it and both of our parents helped Sister and me to grow in our faith for the rest of their lives. 

In closing I share the tribute Sister has posted on Facebook this weekend for our mother. I could not have said it any better:

Mama

Today (May 10) would have been my mother's 100th birthday. She passed last October, 7 months short of that milestone. Though I miss her, I don't regret that she didn't hang on that additional 7 months. God's Word says "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) She IS at home with the Lord, which is a far better place to be.

Until next time, may you experience grace and peace. Happy Mother's Day.