Remembering Mom
Woman in the Middle | May 12, 2015My mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day are always very close together since she was born on May 13th. More than any other time of years, this is when I think of her.
Black and white photos never do my Mom’s beautiful red hair justice!
I remember our Saturday shopping trips together. Since Mom worked almost my entire childhood, Saturday was the day to go shopping. We always stopped to get lunch first, usually at McDonald’s or Weinerschnitzel. If we didn’t, I would start to complain of hunger almost immediately upon entering the department store at the mall. Back then, malls didn’t have food courts. Mom finally learned that a smoother shopping trip would occur if she fed me first.
I used to watch her cook, and she was quite a cook. She grew up at a time and place where going out to eat wasn’t something that happened very much. So she learned how to cook, something that got my Dad’s attention right away. He had finally met someone who could cook as well as his mother could! When I was in high school we moved into a house that had a counter with bar stools overlooking the kitchen. I sat there for many an hour watching Mom work her magic at the stove. .
I loved hearing the sound of the heels of her shoes tip taping when she walked. It was a sound I identified throughout my childhood with all things womanly and elegant. Mom didn’t tend to wear flats or tennis shoes, even cute ones. It was always heels that made that wonderful tip tapping sound.
I saw my mother work hard outside the home. Until I was in junior high she mainly had waitressing jobs, for some reason. Mom had gone to a year of college, so I think she could have gotten office work, but, given my mother’s outgoing personality, I bet she enjoyed being a waitress. I think the tips were also appealing because it meant money straight into her pocket everyday she worked. When I was in junior high she was offered the job she had until she retired, at a local community services district. I saw her go off to work everyday at a time when women didn’t always do that. Sure, I wished she was home with me but at the same time I was learning that a woman could be strong and work if she wanted or needed to. I am sure if my daughters read this they will think “of course women can work if they want.” Well, in the 1960s suburban American, that wasn’t quite so obvious!
Mom was quite the seamstress. I used to watch her sew so many things. When I was young she made me many many dresses for school. Later she made my cousin’s wedding dress. Still later, when I was in college and joined a sorority, she made me a beautiful black taffeta dress to wear to formal affairs. When I got my first “real” job she made me a pretty dress with a matching jacket. I remember the first time I wore it to work and people asked me where I had purchased it. I was so proud to say my mom had made it.
I watched my mom throw so many parties through the years. One of my earliest memories is being put to bed right before a Halloween party was to begin. I remember standing on my twin bed and peering out my bedroom window, trying to see through the bushes the people arriving in their costumes. Later, when I was about 16, she threw big open houses at Christmas time. There were special invitations she had printed up going out to about 200 people. Sometimes around the holidays friends will ask, “How many people are you having over?” I mention 12 or 15 and often the person asking will express dismay at me having to deal with “so many” people. ”No big deal,” I reply, “I was raised by Nell the Entertainer.” If heaven has a party committee, I have no doubt my mom is on it.
I didn’t know any of that…. I just knew I liked her and my mom and Aunt Lena were crazy about her.
Oh, I guess a little California got added to all that southern and you liked that mix!
What a wonderful post you mum sounds wonderful
She’s very pretty!
What a great tribute to your Mom. She sounds like she was a wonderful interesting person. I have a feeling you are the same.
Thank you! My mom was a very interesting person and she never met a stranger. My children say I definitely inherited that last part.