A Medley of Memories of Mom

So Mother's Day is almost here and that means it will be June before too long.
And we all know that June is the sixth month and that means 2019 is almost half over!!
Whaaat??
~
This past April 30th marked the ninth year since my mom went to be with Jesus.
I have shared quite a lot about her since I began this blog and I'm re-sharing some of it today.
No matter how old we get, we never stop missing them after they leave us, do we?
~
So Terri, our friend from Florida, has all the low-down on the history of Mother's Day.
She shared the following on her blog about this special day.

MOTHER’S DAY – Second Sunday in May

MOTHER’S DAY

Everyone has one or has someone who is like a mother to them.  On the second Sunday of May, we honor those women who are our mothers. Whether we shower her with gifts, take her to a fancy dinner or make her a homemade card, what moms want most is to be surrounded by the love of their family.  Knowing the people they love are safe, sound and healthy is a mom’s number one priority.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Remember to put mom first on Mother’s Day and use #MothersDay to share on social media.

HISTORY

Mother’s Day has been celebrated around the world since, well, since motherhood. In the United States, Julia Ward Howe inspired the first movement toward a national Mother’s Day during the Civil War. Appealing to the public for a “Mother’s Day for Peace” after witnessing the devastation left by war, Howe went on an international crusade. While her efforts never gained formal recognition for an official observance, she was acknowledged posthumously in 1988 for her achievements and her efforts for women’s rights.

It was in 1905 when Mother’s Day was finally introduced successfully by Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis who had followed Howe’s campaign and had pursued her own volunteer efforts during the Civil War. Her mother died on May 9, 1905, and she missed her greatly. She started a dedicated letter-writing campaign to declare an official Mother’s Day. Through Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, the first Mother’s Day was observed on May 10, 1908.

This day, to honor Anna Jarvis’s mother, grew into a National Observance until in 1911 when every state participated. Soon it was spreading internationally, and on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.

So why not head on over to her blog, 
get the scoop and copy and paste her questions to your blog.

It's the

1. Where did your mom grow up?

Rural southwestern Ohio.

2. Tell us about her siblings, if she has/had any. Did you have a favorite aunt or uncle?

Mom (Mary Elma) and her twin, Edna Mae, were #5 and #6 out of 7 children. There was Ella, Raymond, Anna, Clara, Mom and Edna, and the baby, Amos. Here are the twins as infants, Mom is on the left. I think my baby pictures strongly resemble hers. 

And below,  I am guessing the twins might be about ten here and that is older sis, Clara in the middle who was two years older. Can you guess which one is Mom? There's that forehead that I inherited! 

And then finally, here are the twins at their 90th birthday celebration. Aren't they adorable? They probably look more like each other here than they ever did...and the Old German Baptist (Dunkard) church dresses and caps helped them out a bit. The twins were the only siblings who continued in the tradition of the church in which they were raised all their lives. 

Of course I loved all of my aunts and uncles but I'd have to say that Aunt Clara was my favorite sibling of Mom's...probably because our families lived the closest to each other and we cousins were closest in age than any of the others. Aunt Clara was two years older than Mom and her twin, Aunt Edna but she lived the longest...103 years! I wrote a post about her back in 2013 in honor of her 100th birthday.



Click on the link below (if you like) which will take you over to my other blog, Memories of my Childhood (and other blessings) and read all about my beloved Aunt Clara.

Fresh Country Air  

 3.  What is ONE of your favorite memories you can share with us of your mom?

Oh...there were so many wonderful memories. I have written quite a bit about my mom over the years and again, you can find them over on my other blog. I have chosen this as my favorite if you choose to click on the link and read it. I know some of you have read them before...no pressure.
 



 Apron Strings...the Ties That Bind 

  

 4. Please share a picture or two of your mom with us.

 

This is one of the last kisses that I gave her. It was Easter Sunday, 2010 and she was in the hospital. It would only be a few weeks later that Jesus would call her home. If you want, click on the link below and read about our last visit together.

Her Crowning Glory
  



5. Let's not leave out the grandmothers. Share what you will.
 

My dad's mother died when he was only seven and when his dad remarried, well, just let me say that they had another bunch of kids together and unfortunately she favored her own children over the steps. It created hard feelings with my dad (of course) over the years and his and our relationship with her was not close after his father died. During my growing up years, I didn't see her very often and barely even considered her a grandmother figure in my life...no surprise there. My maternal grandmother had already passed by the time I was born so I have no real "grandmotherly" memories to speak of. I have always felt a little sad about that but since my mom was much older when I was born, I actually have those kind of memories of her. Dos that make sense?

6. Do you have any special plans for Mother's Day?

At this moment in time, I have no clue...probably will at least go out to eat after church. But then again, all of the restaurants will be ridiculously crazy...may need to have a plan "B".

A Mother's Day....Memory?

Most of us have many wonderful and precious memories of Mother's Day...

...I know I have and I hope you have as well.

But have you ever come across a so-called memory that you don't even remember?

This is something I experienced this very week and it still has me puzzled.

~

A while back, as I was going through an old photograph album from my school days,

something fell out that had been tucked between the pages.

It was some folded up papers that were tattered and yellowed, sealed in a zip-lock sandwich bag.

So I opened it up and saw that it was a Mother's Day picture that I had made for Mom,

and stapled to it was a two-page handwritten note.

At the time I discovered it, I was up to my eyeballs with stuff. 

I promptly set it aside to read later and then possibly blog about it for Mother's Day.

Y'all know how much I like to reflect on the good old days!

Long story short, I set it aside so well that I actually forgot all about it...

...until this week and then the hunt was on to find where I had put it.

I tore my craft room apart trying to locate it and finally, there it was, hiding in plain sight.

Oh I was so excited when I carefully opened that plastic bag and slipped it out,

taking great care to not tear those brittle folded papers.

~

I don't know how old I was when I when I wrote this.

Heck, I don't even remember writing it at all...

...all I know was that I still spelled my name with an "ie"...(Debby with a "y" came later).

When I had set my little discovery aside, I had then imagined it being a sweet and heartfelt letter...

...one that said all those things that we say to our moms on their special day.

You know, just oozing with all those loving expressions and declarations of our love for them.

And so I began reading what looked to be 3rd or 4th grade cursive handwriting.

It was just too much to get into the photos and very hard to read so here's what it said:

What Is A Family?

     Take one husband, one wife, four walls, one small dog or stray cat; mix well; add a generous portion of time; and you are almost certain to have a family. The dog or cat isn't absolutely necessary for the recipe, but somehow or other it seems to give Mother Nature the right idea. (What??)

     The family from Dad's point of view, could be the collection of people in the whole world--a pretty and efficient wife, a highly intelligent son, an angel of a daughter, a well behaved dog, and of course, himself -- very nearly handsome and has a real head for business....if only the rest of the family could have a little of Dad's intelligence. (Haha!)

     Mother comes to view her family with fatalistic resignation. (fatalistic resignation...oh my) No matter how she slaves at cleaning, cooking, washing, polishing, sewing, mending or ironing, Dad will never notice it. Then there's Sonny...spends his Sunday School money for jelly beans...Sister getting phone calls from strange boys. If only the family would appreciate all that Mother does for them. Sonny thinks he has a keen family (keen...haven't heard that word since Leave it to Beaver)...it would be nice if Dad was a little smarter...able to make a kite that would fly. Mom is an angel (of course)--but a strict angel. Do this, run here, stop that, pick it up-- gosh! Sister? Well she's better than most girls. Sister is tenderly tolerant of her old-fashioned family. Dad is a lovable old man--easy to persuade with a smile and a kiss. Mother is just dear but so far behind the times....Sonny? Ugh! (poor Sonny)

     When God made the family, He must have meditated a long time. The family must have food, shelter and clothing, and guidance, so there must be a mother. The family must not be dull, so there must be boy to shout and jump, run and get in the way. The family must not be forgotten, so there must be a girl, an angel who will make them so very, very proud.

     The family is a storehouse in which the world's finest treasures are kept. The small pleasures, the great sorrows, the dreams of the world are contained within these four walls called HOME. 

WHAT IN THE WORLD??!!

I have racked and racked my brain to try to remember myself writing these words,

let alone presenting it to my mom...needless to say it didn't come from my heart...or my own mind.

I can only guess that it must have been some sort of writing assignment.

How is it that I cannot even remember this at all?...

...me, who remembers so many trivial and minute details from my childhood?

Where has this memory-that's-not-a-memory been hiding all these years?

I may never know...or, it may come to me tomorrow!

All I know is that my mom undoubtedly got a big kick out of it!

~

As hokey as most of this little piece of prose sounds, especially in today's world,

the last paragraph tugged at my heartstrings, bigtime.

If the family is a storehouse then Mama must be the shopkeeper.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hodgepodging Motherhood

 If it's Wednesday, it must be Hodgepodge!

I hope your week is going well.
The beautiful weather continues but we need some rain to wash away the yellow dust.
I did hear that 90s are predicted for this weekend...am not ready for that
but unfortunately, spring is pretty short-lived here in the south.

So as the spring quickly is turning into summer,
we are in the midst of setting up some travel plans starting in June.
It's a trip that has been our bucket list for over 25 years.
It's not the Grand Canyon (although I'd love to go there), it's not Hawaii (especially not now!),
and it's not anywhere in Europe (although Ireland is on my bucket list).
Give up?
It's the Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia!

source

We heard about this place years and years ago when we lived in KY and always wanted to go.
Through the years we've talked about it a lot but just never made it there.

The trains are original Shay steam locomotives from back in the logging days of the 1920s.
The railroad, along with the logging town of Cass itself, which is where you board the train,
was acquired by the parks system after all logging operations were shut down in 1960.

Here's a short video of the view from the top of Bald Knob, the final destination,
and the third highest point in West Virginia and the Allegany Mountains.

It takes about 4.5 hours for the round trip to go up 11 miles to the top and back down.
That is one slow train, y'all!
All the better to take in and capture some breathtaking scenery from the open-air cars.
It may not be a tropical paradise but it doesn't take much to thrill us simple folk!

We have a couple of other trips in the planning stages for later on this summer.
But now it's time for the Hodgepodge...

...where Joyce asks the questions and we answer them on our blogs.

1. What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday?

My ingredient list would be different depending where I am, but for a perfect Saturday at home it would look something like this...
~housework caught up
~blue skies with big puffy clouds
~temps in the mid 70s
~lots of yard sales (with great finds)
~a nap on the porch
~grilled something-or-other with corn on the cob...followed by strawberry shortcake

2. What skill do you wish more people took the time to learn?

Kindness. Plain and simple.

3. What's something you ate as a child you can't stand now as an adult?

I can't think of anything that I liked as a kid that I don't like now but surely, there must be something. For me, it's more about what I couldn't stand as a child that I love eating now, like vegetables for instance. We always had a big garden every summer just loaded with all kinds of wonderful produce. I wanted no part of those veggies...MAN, what was I thinking? Now that I have gotten smarter, I crave them!

4. Something parenting has taught you? If you're not a parent tell us one important lesson you learned from your own parents.

Wow, this is hard to actually put into words. Becoming a parent is such a life-changing experience and as a parent I feel I am always learning...still today. When I became a parent, life was just not about ME anymore. The days of making it all about me...my wants and desires...were replaced by the knowledge that I was actually responsible for sustaining the life of that little one that I had been given. Even though the fathers are involved (hopefully) as they should be, the mother's role is unique and none can take her place.

Forty years ago I never dreamed being a parent would be so challenging. My firstborn will be thirty-nine this month and goodness, what a ride it's been! Never have I feared more, never have loved more...and God has always been right there, making me stronger with each new trial and ever so grateful for each new triumph.


5. Share a favorite quote or saying about mothers or motherhood.

I couldn't just pick one...

They will always be our babies.

Lord knows I have failed in many ways over the years but thank goodness He was always there to show me a better way...many times even learning lessons from my boys, themselves.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'd give just about anything to see her again.

Wednesday's Hodgepodge and Happy Mother's Day

 It's Wednesday and time for Hodgepodge...
...where Joyce asks the questions and we answer them on our blogs.
Come on over and join in the fun, won't you?

1. Share a favorite memory of your mother or share a favorite something from your own life as a mother. If you're a mother (or stepmom) tell us how your experience as a mom differs from your own mother's experience.

I have so many memories of my mom, just as I'm sure most of us do and I could write a book about my own journey... most of the chapters would be happy, some might be funny and others, sad. My mom was born in 1912 and that would make her 105 if she was still living. She was 42 years old when she gave birth to me. I don't have any memories of my grandparents since they had already passed on and some of the memories I have of my mom probably resemble those that some of you have of your grandmother. 

Just a little over a week ago on April 30th was the 7th year since her passing and I shared a post from my other blog on facebook that day. It's titled Her Crowning Glory... some of you have read it.



 

 It is probably my most precious memory since it connects my childhood memory of combing her long hair to the last day I saw her before she died...I combed her hair that day as well.

Me and my first little bundle, Aaron

I'd say there was huge difference since she had eight children between her early twenties and early forties...I. Can't. Even!... and I was finished giving birth while I was still in my twenties. She was old-fashioned in every way and in those days, I really wasn't at all. But all in all, we were very much the same when it came to loving and our children and doing everything in our power to raise them right...

  

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

 

2. In May we celebrate teachers (May 9) and nurses (May 6) both. Most every family has at least one in their midst, so tell us something (or a few things) you appreciate about the teacher or nurse on your family tree.

I have one niece that is a teacher and several of other nieces and great nieces that are nurses or soon will be. I think this is a wonderful thing because some of their parent's didn't have the opportunity to go to college, yet these girls made the decision to find a way to make it happen. Hooray for them!

3. Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad...which would you go for if all three were on the menu? On bread or a bed of lettuce? If you answered bread, what kind of bread would make it the perfect sandwich?

Yes, please! Actually I do like all three of these but chicken salad (especially the rotisserie kind) is my favorite. Although I love a slice of sturdy, grainy and seedy bread, I prefer my chicken salad on a bed of lettuce....OR...right out the bowl!

4. Do you have a desk? Is it organized? If so, share your secret to keeping it that way. If you don't have a desk, where in your home do you take care of family paperwork and business? Where do you normally sit to blog?

 

I do have a desk and currently it is organized for one simple reason...I haven't really used it yet. My office/project/craft/sewing room is still kinda a work in progress since we had the new floors installed in February. As you may have gathered by now, I use this excuse frequently when I'm not getting things done promptly. Oh yes...I have a plan, I have the fabric and I have gotten as far as arranging things where I want them which included multiple work areas. My old desktop PC is in there which I don't use much unless I need to print something so there's not a lot office work that I do in there. But since we are talking about it, I will give you a little sneak peek of my finished window treatment in that office/project/craft/sewing room.

 

 

But the desk that I use most often when I am home is the one that I carry everywhere with me...my very own lap :)  I pay bills online and do most other business plus blogging on my laptop...in the living room...on my "portable" desk. Sometimes if the sun isn't too bright you might find me on the glider on the front porch :)

 

5. When I was nine years old....

Hmmm...when I was 9 years old was in the 4th grade and the year was 1963. I was taking a spelling test when the announcement came over the loud speaker...President Kennedy has just been assassinated. I will never forget it. The other thing that I remember was that it was probably the only time in my life I had really long hair. I remember one of my sisters measuring my pony tail and it was nearly 14 inches long. Soon afterwards, I had my hair cut short and it has been short-ish ever since.....except that time I let it grow out just a little, to my shoulders...back in my Farrah Faucette days. 😉

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 

May you all have a blessed Mother's Day weekend!

A Mother's Day Gift

He's home and he looks so good.

There is a little more of him than there was the day he left (but that's okay),

and he has completed his program a little sooner than anticipated!

There is a newness about him...

...a desire to live for Jesus and to continue getting his life in order.
In some conversations, it seems like I'm talking to a different person.
I guess that's because he is different.

What an absolute blessing it was on this Mother's Day Sunday,
 to look out into the congregation from the platform during praise and worship
and see him and his significant other, Michelle, sitting there together.
And what's more, as the pastor prayed a special prayer for us mothers,
I can't even describe what it was like when he reached out and placed my hand in his.

This mama's heart is full to overflowing!

Many of you have and continue to pray for him, and I am so thankful for those prayers!

Please don't stop now, my friends!

Now that he's back in the real world, the enemy will surely attack him around very corner.

It's already started and he's passed several tests already in the few days he's been home.

God is GOOD!

So, I just wanted to send a late Mother's Day greeting and hope yours was as blessed as mine!

As you see, I survived my Epic week...another post for another day... 

...hopefully soon :)

Hugs to all,

When I Think of Mom

I wanted to write a Mother's Day post but wasn't sure what it would say.

 After reading a couple of posts here in Blogland,
I was quite touched and inspired by what they had to say about their mother.

Both of these ladies share the same one...
 ...and you can read them here and here if you like.
~
I realize this post might be somewhat random...please bear with me...
...feelin' just a bit little nostalgic today.

When I think of mom... 

...I think about the fact that I never called her mother...

...she was always mom to her brood of eight.

I'm pretty sure I was calling her Mommy when this was taken :)
~
When I think of Mom...
...so many images come to my mind.

I can't look at an apron without thinking of her...
...as some of you already know.

I can't pass by a lilac bush without a getting a vision of her cutting a fresh bouquet
as a centerpiece for the kitchen table in springtime.

When I see a batch of freshly laundered sheets flapping wildly on a clothesline,
sweet images and memories from days gone by bless my soul.

When I think of Mom...

...I think about what it would have been like to have had a grandma.

My dad's mom passed when he was a boy and Mom's mom, shortly after I was born.

My own sweet mom was actually old enough to be my grandma,

giving birth to me, her baby, when she was forty-two.

I was only three years older than that when I became a grandma for the first time!

Some of your Grandma memories have actually reminded me of some of my Mom memories...
...if that makes any sense to you.

When I think of Mom...

I remember how I always thought it was so cool that she was a twin.

She was born Mary Elma Davis along side of Edna Mae...

As you can see, they look nothing alike...never did.

Below, Mom is on the right, Edna on the left, with older sis Clara in the middle.
I'm guessing it was about 1920 or thereabouts...
...the twins were born in 1912 .

Here they are at their 90th birthday party.



When I think of Mom...

...I think about sometimes wishing time travel was possible...
...wondering what was she like as a young woman.

I love looking at these old photos...
 ...imagining what it would have been like living during the Great Depression.
Here she is with Dad shortly after they were married...
...before she was ever a mom.

When I think of Mom...

I remember considering her to be an old fashioned woman.
I use that term with the utmost love and respect for her.

Because of her strict upbringing in the Old German Baptist Church,

also referred to as Dunkards, there was nothing very "worldly" about her.

She never finished high school, as was the case with many of that era,

she never went to prom,

she never had a boyfriend other than my dad (at least not that I know of),

she never got her driver's license,
 although I did hear a few tales about her driving her dad's old jalopy around on the farm,

she never had a job outside of the home yet she worked harder than I've ever had to,

she never went to see a movie,

she never went out to lunch with her girlfriends...

...that is, until her girls got old enough to be her girlfriends!

 There were many other things that she would never do...

...nor did she have the desire to be anything more than who and what she was...
...a loving wife and helpmate to my dad, Joe...
 ...mother, nurse, cook, keeper of the home,
and the spiritual glue that held our family of ten together.

And I don't think for one minute that she felt deprived of anything.

She had babies for twenty years...can you just imagine?

Do you think you might recognize this adorable, precious, and most beautiful baby?

That would be me with oldest sibling, Bob, six days shy of twenty years apart!

When I think of Mom...

I think of her unfathomable grace.
I am reminded about how she loved me without conditions...
...even when I wasn't very lovable at all...yes, even then.
I am reminded that the word forgiveness didn't necessarily even have to be spoken...
...as it was just something that she lived out in her kind and gentle ways.
~

Last Thursday, April 30th, marked five years since she has been with Jesus.
This photo was taken during our last visit.

Sometimes it seems like forever ago that I looked upon that sweet face.

Other times I can almost hear her voice and swear she's sitting right next to me.

When I think of Mom...

...I am so very thankful for the lessons learned from her about being a mom, myself.

Oh my goodness, I have been the farthest thing from a perfect mom...
...and I know that perfection can't be achieved here on earth, no matter what we strive for.
And sometimes, I wonder how I can even be her daughter.
I didn't inherit her patience, her meek and mild temperament or her soft-spoken voice.

Just ask these two.

They usually don't look quite so dapper as they do here.
It was Adam's (right) wedding day and one of the few times you'd find Aaron in a suit.

This is more true to form :)

~
And lastly...when I think of Mom...

I am aware of how very blessed I am to have been given such a gift from God.
Although she hasn't walked this earth for five years,
the power of her presence in my life is still so very strong.
When I see, touch and taste these things that remind me of her,
it soothes this "little girl's" soul like nothing or no one but God, Himself.
~
I want to wish you all
A Very Happy Mother's Day!


Sharing at:

Spiritual Sundays







Apron Strings: A Mother's Day Tribute

I have been posting a lot about my mom lately, I know.
I really miss her, especially today.

When I think of her, I think of aprons...among other things.
I wrote about my memories of her and her aprons last year on my other blog,
Memories from my Childhood {and other blessings}.

I have re-published an updated version of it.
 There, you can read Apron strings...the ties that bind if you like.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!