It has now been 10 years since my passed away. It seems like forever ago, yet it seems like yesterday. There is so much I miss about my mom. She was a wonderful mom and a great example of patience. She had me when she was 43 years old, and when I was a year old she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The disease crippled her very quickly and she was having joints replaced by the time I was five years old. She spent the last 28 years of her life dealing with this horrible disease. We used to call her "bionic mom" because she had so many artificial parts! She NEVER complained about her trials and always had such a positive attitude. I was the youngest and was her private nurse. When I moved away to college it really caused me stress because I didn't know if dad would be able to take care of her without me, but he did a wonderful job.
She was so willing to serve, yet her crippled body confined her. She wanted to be able to serve a mission and got permission from her doctors, if she were to serve in a warm climate. Her and dad received their mission call to Fayette, New York. It was far from a warm climate and she endured a very cold winter and pneumonia several times while on her mission, but she did it willingly and enjoyed being able to serve a mission. I will be eternally grateful for my parents serving their mission because it was there that they met my future husband.
Mom enjoyed having fun and being silly. She loved to play games, watch her favorite shows on the TV (The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune), she loved to cross stitch and sew. She had many friends and it seems like anywhere we traveled there was someone to stop and visit with that they had met years before while dad served in the Air Force.
Mom always took pride in her appearance. Unless she was having a particularly bad day, she would be up and dressed, with her hair styled and lipstick on. (She loved bright pink lipstick!) One of my lifelong chores for mom was to keep her fingernails trimmed. Even after I was married I would clip her nails for her at every opportunity. I learned to keep a pair of clippers in my purse because they would travel to Salt Lake to see her doctor and stop at my work to visit...and get a manicure!
She loved to have a clean house but was not able to keep it up on her own. Dad was good to do much of the work, but when I would come to visit she liked to have me dust on top of the book shelves. She would sit in her chair and be totally bugged because she KNEW no one had dusted up there for months so it must be dusty!
African violets, hot bubble baths, chair lifts up the stairs, her silly laugh (which she passed on to her daughters), running down the mall pushing mom in her wheelchair : ) , alfalfa, pink roses, cross stitch, pearl earrings, recipes written on envelopes, road trips in the motor home, photos she took (She was a TERRIBLE photographer!), Dixie cups full of pills or cherry pits, carrot and celery juice, charcoal "black" balls, being able to squeeze her as hard as I could around her waist because it didn't hurt her there, seeing her hold my daughter...
I love you mom...(and I know you love me best!)
Mother/daughter "Switch" party
Mom and Bri
This is what happens when you squeeze dish soap in the bathtub, turn on her bubble blower and walk out of ear shot!
This picture amazes me, I never saw her sit on the floor
Mom on a bowling team (2nd from left)
The chicken laid an egg in her lap!
She always taught us about modesty...it was fun giving her a hard time when we found a picture of her in a bikini!
Mom and Dad before leaving on their mission
10 comments:
What a beautiful tribute--I love it!
A beautiful post! I always remember your mom looking like a million bucks - always dressed up and hair done. This post brought back two memories - the wheelchair lift and the candy in the closet at the bottom of your stairs!
I miss your mom too. I remember how much she wanted to dress you in ruffles and lace and you wouldn't have it. Although, I didn't mind borrowing those clothes from you because I liked the ruffles and lace. :)
Your house was always the best to have sleep overs at because there were no other kids and your mom and dad always had the best treats.
I am laughing at the comment on her photography skills because I have several of those pictures and love them dearly.
Miss you mom!
(I left a comment, but it didn't show up, so if it ever does, sorry for repeating myself.)
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing those sweet memories. I too remember that your mom always looked so cute and dressed up and I love that you always gave her a manicure! My favorite picture is the first one of you two together. What a great mom!
I have never seen any of those pictures, I am so glad you shared them. I loved your mom, she was always so nice to me.
Thank you so much for sharing this to all of us. I wish I had met your mom sometime. She seems so wonderful. I can tell she loved you the best!
Thanks Sis! Ditto to ALL of it! I haven't had a good cry about mom in a while... till now.
That was really cute.
Somehow I missed this blog. That was fun.
I was thinking of her too on the 1st.
Miss her. Looking at all the pictures is so crazy. She really was beautiful and did care so much about always being done up. Jewelry is what I will remember her always having on. Earrings.
I miss her too. Oh and she liked me best!
I enjoyed that, I can hardly believe she has been gone for 10 years. I look at our little girls and am reminded how time goes by. I miss her and hope I can keep her memory alive for my kids. She likes me best, tells me so all the time :)
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