Memories of Mom

I guess I'm like any daughter who, while enjoying an old photo album, finds that one sexy pose of her mom and shouts:  "Way to go, Mamma!

I found this photo and I loved it!  I wondered:  "What was on her mind during this pose?"  "Was she thinking of my dad?"  Or was she competing with girlfriends who strived to pose the most like a movie star--Ginger Rogers or Bette Davis?  I will never know.    It feels strange to see it.  It seems out of character for her.  My mom was anything but a super model; she was more in the "tomboy" category!

She had high morals.  I remember as a preschooler, bundled in a heavy winter coat, scarf, mittens, knit hat with a long braid on top, holding her hand as we walked in the snow to Gray's, the corner drug store.  Mom found a Playboy magazine on the shelf.  She pulled out her church badge and marched to the cash register and then asked to speak to Mrs. Gray.  The elderly woman listened to my mother share disappointment.  "We are hard working parents who raise our children with good values.  Can you remove this magazine?"  Mrs. Gray removed it!  Mom was an activist.

Mom's greatest strength was Faith in God.  She was never ashamed to share her love for God.  She modeled a life of prayer.

Her strongest personality trait, a sense of humor, still has me in stitches when certain memories arise.  I could never anticipate her responses.  I liked having a mom who fearlessly joked with strangers in public.  I learned from my mother how humor repels tension.

I inherited my mother's weakness, her impatience.  My favorite story is about the time she sent me a package from Chicago and could not comprehend its delay.  I told her my little Arizona town is far from the sophisticated post offices in Chicago.  Life is slower here!  She phoned the postmaster of our little two-bit town and argued with her to my horror.  It's funny now, but at the time I felt embarrassed the day I retrieved my mail from my post box and heard Toni, our postmaster scream:  "Mary, your mother called.  Seems we don't process your packages fast enough."  I apologized for my mom and spun the fact we should give her a pass since she was in her 90's and all.  Then the postmaster cracked up.  "We're fine!  It's okay.  We ended up friends.  She's funny!"  After that, I always got my packages in a special locker.  A bonus for me, I always say: "Mom took on the United States Post Office and won!"  Still, I wish my mom behaved better.

That's a snapshot of my mother's character.  I could write a book!

Happy Mother's Day in Heaven, Mom, from your daughter who looks like you.  Thank you for being my mom.