Mother's Day

Every Monday morning, several of us gather in a conference room at the church and worship for the following Sunday is planned.  Hymns are picked to "go with" the liturgical season or the sermon series, etc.  All through Lent, one staff member would ask for a funny song . . .and then someone asked for another one on a different Sunday . .. we didn't sing it either.  (you must laugh some every day, right??)  Who knew that so much planning went into each worship service??  During Monday morning's meeting, Andy kept singing this song (or one like it)

M-O-T-H-E-R
"M" is for the many things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

  Just fyi - we are NOT singing that song in worship! 

Yesterday I realized, once again, that I know so little about our mother.  I remember some things and if I'm with my sisters and one of them mentions something, odds are I will eventually remember the incident, etc.  I know that she was part Cherokee Indian (as am I - of course - duh!).  I know that she was only about 5' 2" tall and weighed about 100 pounds for most of her life.  I know that she loved my daddy and she loved us.  I know that sometimes people hurt her feelings (isn't that weird that I can remember that??).  I remember that she was always kind.  I remember that she SLAPPED MY FACE (today that would be child abuse :-) ) in a department store in Tarrant (Aston's? was that the name??).  I deserved it, I am sure.  I remember that I had sassed her ONE too many times that day.  I think she was mortified after she did it!  I know that she had a troubled relationship with her mother but before they both died, they seemed to be at peace with each other.  Even though things had not been easy for momma and she was in horrible foster care at times, she still loved her own mother and wanted to check on her, etc.  I wish I could hear her laugh.  I don't remember if she had a soft voice or not.  I think she did.  She didn't drink alcohol (we had a bottle of wine in the fridge that was a gift and it turned to vinegar or something).  She didn't curse - well, once or twice I've HEARD that she said sh**.  She loved God.  She read her Bible and prayed.  She had a set of gold praying hands.  I wonder if someone gave those to her after she got sick.  She wore a lot of house dresses! You know what I'm talking about?  They snapped down the front.  I remember riding the bus and going to the doctor and walking to the hair salon with her.  I remember that she was a really good cook.

I LOVE this picture of her.  It is in an old cardboard frame and its home is in my craft room.  I would really enjoy an adult conversation with her.

We are the ones who made her a mother.  She is holding me - I'm the baby!!  Glenine is standing beside momma (she is the oldest) and Becky has the big bow tie (she is the middle one!!).  Momma looks like she is trying to smile - we were probably driving her crazy.

There have been so many times in my life when I've wished for advice about mothering FROM MY OWN MOTHER.  My mother-in-law has been like a mother to me and she has given some wise advice.  She has been wonderful.  It worked out great - she was the mother of twins and then Mark and I had twins.  She could UNDERSTAND!  

I had this picture of Laura (left) and Glenn (right) in my office.  They made a mother out of ME!! (they are wearing their baptism gowns that were made by their great grandmother . . .Mark and George wore them - that twin thing!  Then their two siblings wore one of them and now all the grandchildren have been baptized in one or the other of the two gowns.

There have been so many others who have been like a mother to me.  Inez Lane and my mom taught three year old Sunday School together.  Inez had a daughter about my age and we became friends - close friends.  After momma died, Inez was always there for me.  Here is a picture of Inez and her daughter, Karen.  I need to go see her more often!!  I bought a mother's day card for her but I don't know where those cards are -- shoot - glad I remembered - now I can hunt them!!  (sorry for that trail)

Dovie Parker was also like a mother to me.  I don't have a picture of her in my computer. (UPDATE -- her daughter emailed a picture to me!!  This is JUST how I remember her!) She loved me and I knew it.  (same with Inez)  They would not have put up with me so much if they didn't!  Mrs. Parker signed me up with their family for a pool pass.  One whole summer, I was Lisa Parker.  She hosted my surprise 16th birthday party.  

So many people have been like a mother to me.  It is amazing how God can fill a void if we allow him time to do it.  I have always had women in my life - women who were older (sometimes!) and certainly wiser.  I've been friends with women who could advise me (thank God!)

M is for the many mothers in my life!

Wednesday Hodgpodge

 

answer these questions and go link up over at From This Side of the Pond!!
1. What's a phrase your mother often said to you? If you're a parent, is this something you now say to your own children?
My mom died when I was a sophomore in high school and I’m now 56 so I don’t remember many things she said!! Sometimes my older sisters tell me thing about her. I like for them to tell me those things! I always said to our kids as they were leaving home, “remember who and whose you are.” 

2. What is a scent you associate with your mother or your childhood home?
My mom always wore Cody powder. I actually saw some in Walmart back before Christmas and bought some and put it in my sister’s Christmas stocking. Our mom also wore Chanel No. 5 perfume. I detest fragrances – HIGHLY ALLERGIC – so I can’t even remember what it smelled like. 

3. What's an activity you remember always doing with your mother (or someone who was a mother figure in your life)?
Like I said earlier, I just don’t have that many memories . . .that is sad, isn’t it? I do remember standing at the kitchen sink drying dishes as she or my sister washed them. I also remember having to ride the city bus because she didn’t drive. We would walk to the bus stop. I hated having to ride the bus – even as a little child. OH – I thought of a good one!! I would walk home for lunch when I was in high school. She was already sick with cancer but I was so self-centered that I was pretty oblivious. I thought she was going to get well, ya know? Anyway, my dad had to take a leave of absence to care for her – to take her for chemo treatments, etc. I would come home for lunch and we would have a sandwich (probably bologna??) and a bowl of campbell’s soup. We would listen to Paul Harvey while we ate.

4. Flared jeans, maxi dresses, and jumpsuits are 70's fashion trends back this spring. Are you on board? Which trend would you be most inclined to try? For the men...flared corduroys, wide-collared shirts, and floral prints...what say you?
Those things have already been “in” once in my lifetime!! I owned flared jeans, maxi dresses and jumpsuits. I saw bell bottoms in an ad the other day and thought, “what?” They say that what goes around comes around and I guess it is. I did have a really cool “jumpsuit” that was evening wear and I remember wearing it to some work function. I looked pretty darn good. I should see if I can find that picture. My date’s first name was Marshall but I can’t remember his last name . . .  I can't imagine Mark in any of those men's fashions!!

5. May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Day and also Nurse Appreciation Day. Is there a nurse or teacher you have especially appreciated along the way? Tell us why?
My favorite teacher would be my own sweet daughter. She is now working as an early interventionist (or some title like that). She is a born teacher. She taught swim lessons when she was just a teenager and has been teaching people things ever since. I also loved my senior English teacher back in high school – her name was Bess Studdard. I also loved my English 102 teacher in college – I can’t remember his name, though. He was such an encourager . . .and I did have the highest grade in his class (suck up!!) There have also been a few Sunday School teachers over the years who have had a tremendous impact on my life. Charlotte, Carol and Linda worked with the young adults at our home church and I came back to that church as a young divorced woman. Heck – they had no place for me but Charlotte, Carol and Linda opened their arms and loved me right back to Jesus. Yes, they did! 

6. If I came by your house, what would I find on your frig door?
You wouldn’t find a thing. Our fridge is stainless steel and magnets, etc. don’t seem to do so well. In our old house, we had an old white refrigerator and it was COVERED in save the date cards and funny cartoons and fun magnets and pictures from coloring books, etc.

7. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana made her royal entrance on Saturday, May 2nd. On a scale of 1-10, how much attention did you give to all the news coverage? 1=Who's Charlotte? 10=sat glued to the telly, cuppa in hand.
I do know who Charlotte is but I’ve never been one to follow the royal folks very much. I’m much more interested in the babies born into our church family over the last few weeks (and the ones still coming!)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Mark is going to the farm tonight (wednesday) to get his present. I am a lousy present buyer for him. It is just so very hard to buy gifts for him. I asked Glenn to help me to think of some ideas (Anniversary, Father’s day and birthday). I was thinking of a green egg but he has a really nice grill. Glenn mentioned that Mark had been talking about wanting crawfish in the farm lake. I googled Southeastern Pond Management and emailed them to find out if this is something I could do, etc. They are delivering 500 pounds of crawfish to the farm lake tomorrow (Thursday). Mark is actually thrilled! (do guys get thrilled? Don’t answer that. Whatever word would work for men – he likes the idea that we are getting crawfish.)  I hope he remembers to take some photos - it is so cool - they drive a big truck up and connect a hose (like a firehose but fatter) and shoot the fish from the tanker truck into the lake!!  I guess we could eat these but I believe they are actually food for the bass.