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!


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