Memories of Mom

I lost my mom last year. As Mother's Day approaches, I'm finding it difficult to manage everyday tasks without thinking about her. How would mom do this? How would mom handle that?

My favorite memory of mom is her smile. She had a funny way of looking at you and tilting her head. It made you think you were the ONLY thing on her mind at that moment.

My DH lost his mom, too. When she was younger, she played baseball. She was the pitcher for her team and had a wicked fastball. His best memory of her is when he mouthed off one day while they were outside. He ran away from her and knew she couldn't catch him. She did what any good base-baller would do. She picked up a handy brick and let fly! Nailed him in the shoulder and he went tumbling across the yard! Score one for mom!!! LOL

I know many of you no longer have your moms with you, as well. This thread will be the place you can say your goodbyes, relate a memory, tell your favorite story.

What's your favorite story? If you still have your mom, tell a story anyway. We'd like to hear them.

My mom was FURIOUS FURIOUS FURIOUS with me when after she insisted I mail her Publishers Clearing House order for magazines (she believed she would not win the big prize if she didn't order a magazine or two with the prize application...) she went to check the mailbox (check up on ME) and saw that I had indeed mailed it....and she also saw that I had drawn horns and a mustache on ole Ed! She was soooooo upset because she feared he would see it and think she did it!

This message was edited May 7, 2009 1:01 PM

Another Ed McMahon story... Mom came to visit me in NC. At that time, she lived in a senior apt complex in Fort Lauderdale. Mom made my sis promise that she would go to the apt after mom was gone two weeks to toss the milk that was in the fridge. Mom didn't want to toss it BEFORE she left for NC because it was 'still good.' (It didn't matter that she lived alone and that the milk would go past its past good date while it waited in the fridge for mom to return...) Anyway... mom's month long visit was almost up and my sis decided that she'd better get over to the apt and dump that milk before mom got home and had a fit about having old milk in the fridge. ("what if there was a fire ...what would those firemen think??") As my sis walked up to mom's apartment door she spied a note tacked to the outside of the door: Dear Ed, I am at Dottie's house in NC. If I win the big prize will you call me there? Here is Dottie's address and telephone number ---- Love your friend, Viv.

ROTFLOL Your mom sounds like a hoot!

she is...still is.... She forgets where I live sometimes now.

To be fair to mom I left a few things out of the story about mailing that envelope... ..(I was hot because I didn't want her to buy magazines and I knew the PCH folks counted on folks thinking that somehow ordering would optimize chances for the win)...In addition to the horns and mustache, I drew fangs on ole Ed and printed "eat this Ed" on the envelope! (childish I know...) But I can still see her face and hear her yelling at me and I was at least 35 at the time!

My grandmother raised me...loveliest lady who ever walked the surface of the earth..kind/loving/giving....

I must have been but 8 or 9 when she asked me one late Nov. day to mail out all her Christmas cards..of course in those days she had to save to have enough $$$ or not only the cards but postage as well...

It was late June and the school year had just ended, we had folding doors and a cubicle at the back of the classroom, each an area with shelving assigned to us...I was amazed when the teacher handed me a bag of christmas cards...

Now not wanting to get into trouble (remember I'm only 8) I stopped off at the post office and mailed them...

LOL imagine the surprise when she got call after call asking why she had mailed out her cards so early in the season.....she was not happy but did eventually see the humour in it...

Oh that is great Betty!!!! At last your grandma's cards didn't get lost in the shuffle of all those other cards!!

It is amazing what we do in order to fix our 'mistakes' and then keep mum.

I used to spend the quarter mom gave me to put in the church collection ----on a jelly donut that I ate on the way home from church. As I ate it I PRAYED all the way home for forgiveness. I did this EVERY Sunday.

LOL These are great! The things we did and THOUGHT mom never knew.

grandma loved to play bingo, she had a tin full of pennies,perhaps 3or 4 hundred...well on my way to school they had a bubble gum machine and in it was the silver bubble gum, if you got it you got a 'rabbit's foot' now every child should have a rabbits foot don't you think..each lunch hour I'd fill my pockets with pennies and try to win the silver bubble gum...never thinking of getting caught...dah, shouldn't it have crossed my mind that once the pennies were no longer somebody would notice..lol

did you get the silver gum??

Here's a picture of my mother back in the early 50's. We'd just moved to the farm. The house was under construction, so mom had a board instead of steps off the porch. In the picture, she is wearing the fancy bathrobe she received for Christmas, and a pretty apron. She lived to be 92 years old, and she was a great mom.

That's a great pic of your mom. it's hard for us to imagine living w/o the 'stuff' we have today. Our parents did just fine and appreciated the finer things when they got them.

Here's my mom back in the early 70s with my DD.

This message was edited May 8, 2009 11:07 AM

What a nice picture... pretty woman and a pretty granddaughter. Yes, I think our parents and their parents knew the value of the things they had. We live in a disposable world these days. Back in their day, mom would admire her 'new' kitchen range for 20 years. I think most stoves self destruct in 5-10 years now.

Here's an old photo of my mother with my brother, Leslie. He's 72 years old now.

"Pretty as a picture." She was beautiful.

For those lucky to still be blessed with your Mom this is beautiful. For those of us who aren't, this is even more beautiful.


The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there."

So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."

And the mother, when she lay down at night looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have given them strength."

And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light." And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness.

And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God." And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.

And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them." and the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."

Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street; she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks; she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. She's the place you came from, your first home; and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you... Not time, not space...not even death!

MAY WE NEVER TAKE OUR MOTHERS FOR GRANTED!



Control what you can,
let go of the rest.

Lovely. Thank you.

Well, I got through Mother's Day. Now, to get through Father's Day. Dad died six months before mom. A double whammy for us kids. We weren't really close with dad, although, we did get to know him better before the end. It still hurts. One thing, though, you find out a lot about your parents after they go. I miss dad more than I thought I would.

Thank you to all my DG friends for helping through all of this. I have family close by but it's nice to have you all anyway.

My mom is still living as you can tell by earlier posts but she is suffering from dementia 80 percent of the time and so we miss her too in similiar ways.

Thanks for the passage on mother's Tubby - I have saved for my daughter and son.

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up..

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she
carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!