| Thirteen Things about My Mom
1. loved to golf
2. outgoing and friendly
3. adored her two grandchildren
4. lost her mother in her late teens to suicide (Her mother suffered from cancer back in the late 30's, put her in a sanatorium)
5. suffered severe depression off and on entire adult life
6. could not handle people yelling or arguments, felt dinner table was NOT the time for heated discussions (you go, Mom!)
7. found everything else more important than housework (Hmm, I inherited it?)
8. spoiled me rotten (not in material way, but that was ONLY because she had no money from the time I was 10)-- and she did such a perfect job of it, Leon just naturally took over, must have seemed natural state of affairs (LOL).
9. only worked (a department store) for a few months during or right after a few years in college in Winston-Salem, NC.
10. SAHM
11. her dad was a pharmacist, they had tobacco stock, not wanting for anything, died a few years after her mother.
12. could not see well, let it hold her back, my dad was overprotective of her, when she wanted to take business classes and get a job when I was well into adulthood, he convinced her she would never see well enough to do anything. . . I tried to convince her the opposite. . . she chose to believe him. (Don't misconstrue that, he truly believed it. . . he was wrong, but he believed it and I think underlying it -- he was also eleven years older than her and a bit old school in his thinking, as well as wanting to protect her from what he perceived would be failure - and that comment comes from years of observation and thought afterward - and if you were really observant you notice I wrote that she "chose" to believe him, I believe we are more in control of our actions than we like to believe at times.)
13. we flew to NC to visit relatives the summer before school started -- so she could buy my school clothes at her favorite store up there, because there weren't 'decent' clothes in FL. . . . (I'm serious).
Bonus: she truly loved life when she was not depressed - and I chose to write this with little punctuation, etc. . . because underneath my mom's love of doing things right and properly - there was a bit of rebel in her - and if she knew how tired my eyes were right now from too many hours this week on the computer, besides reminding me to get away from it, she would be OK with my not going back and doing it right. . .oh, and did I tell you she spoiled me rotten? Yeah, I guess I did, but she also expected me to be kind and decent. . . and when someone expects good from you, how can you not learn it?
(Thank you for indulging me this TT. Mom's birthday was/would have been the 8th. Tomorrow and/or Saturday, I have three brief stories to tell. . . the same ones I told at her memorial years ago. Mom's rock! Now, off to rest my eyes, then I will catch up with WW and TT, etc.)
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3 comments:
I could see your mom as you spoke. I could almost hear her speak. Punctuation or no, you painted a picture with words. And, you made me cry thinking of my own mom.
Shelly - I'm sorry that you are also crying while thinking of your mom, but I am glad that you have feelings. . . and are not afraid to feel them, because that means you are living your life and not just going through the motions.
(I hope you heard my mom with a Floridafied Southern NC accent.)
Matty - I'm thankful you saw it as a tribute to Mom, thank you. It's wonderful that you so appreciate your mom and that your daughter is having her first mother's day. Thank you for commenting today.
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