Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day


I haven't posted in a few weeks and so much has happened in the world since then. The evil, dreaded, hated, Most- Wanted, Osama (now apparently Usama) bin Laden is dead. Ding, dong! Now before you move away from this page, I promise this is not another political blog-spot. I actually don't think the killing of the most wanted man in the world is a political event at all and I'm thrilled it's something our country can come together on - perhaps begin to heal. I know - probably - wishful thinking. A girl can dream, right?

Anyway, today's post is really about the day - Mother's Day. Specifically it's a little homage to my Mom who passed away in 1981 - so long ago. My mother was a natural beauty. She was also a real lady and I'm forever grateful for the grace and poise that she modeled for me. This woman, my mom, could put an outfit together such that every head turned when she entered a party, arrived at church or even showed up at work. I'm not talking about crazy kooky outfits, I'm talking about classic elegance - like Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. Keep in mind the bias of the writer here! Of course there were the years when, for some unknown reason, woman's wigs were popular. LOL - when I look back at some of our family photo's (1 in this post) and see her and her sister (Aunt Mary Ann) in those wigs, I just have to smile. Again, they were very in at the time. You could not get me to squeeze my head into one of those today - times change.

I'm sure my mother was very worried about my tomboyish childhood ways. I was not exactly known as graceful. In fact I had a friend whose mother nicknamed me, Grace, because of how often I seemed to trip over my own two feet. Nice lady, right? I was larger than other girls my age. I'm grateful for all the times Mom tapped me in a public place and whispered, "put your legs together". Remember in the 60's little girls wore dresses on a regular basis. Seriously, when I moved schools from one town to the next in about 1969 I saw some girls wearing pants at school for the first time. It was not even allowed at the public school I attended for 1 - 3rd grade. Of course knowing me and knowing I would head right to the monkey bars at recess my mother always ensured I wore shorts under my dresses. :-)

Cancer took my mother and robbed her of her best years. I have an older brother and a younger sister and I know how lucky and incredibly grateful I am that she was around long enough to show me how to be a mother. We won't go into dates and ages but suffice to say I was a young mother myself and my Mom was invaluable to me in initially supporting me and welcoming this family addition. She got to be a Grandma (called Nannie - grandma sounded too old!) and that meant so much to her. She threw me the best baby shower I've ever attended - to this day. It was one helluva party! There must have been 30 women there and we even had lemon custard ice cream rosettes. She helped me with absolutely everything those first couple of years.

I never really liked this holiday since my Mom passed away but over the years I began to think of this day as a day to pull out an old photo - dust off some precious memories - and never forget where I come from. And on occasion, when I arrive at an event and heads turn, I think of her and all she taught me about putting a tasteful and fashionable outfit together.


Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

3 comments:

  1. Happy Mother's Day! Aunt Mary Ann remembers that particular day as it was the first day you arrived home from the hospital. As you might notice, your mother had small gold hoop earrings, white ironed blouse with a wool plaid skirt with a low heeled flat. Some days you never forget!

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  2. Beautiful post! I have always loved looking at pictures of your mom. I confess that sometimes I try to mimic her outfit selections to attain that classic beauty :)

    Happy Mother's Day, Mom! You are an incredible woman!

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  3. really nice to know about you :) thank you for sharing

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