Memory Monday, I love you Mommie

Working my way through the alphabet, I'm now at E.........egads.........e?

Energy and Etiquette come to mind.

Energy, well...my Mom was scrappy and full of energy. I remember her stories of cooking on a one burner hot plate when she and Daddy first got married. I remember her washing dishes in the bathtub or doing laundry kitchen sink when things weren't working right, I remember her wringing out clothes by hand when the old wringer washer was on the frists and money was too tight to call the repair man. I remember her cooking, cleaning, washing, shopping, sewing, mending all the time. She was non stop. We had one used car which Daddy took to work, so........ when any of us kids were sick she walked to school to get us and bring us home. I remember Spring Cleaning when it truly was a job and you washed the inside and outside of the cupboards, the windows, beat the rugs outside and always ----------ALWAYS cooked a home cooked meal for your loved ones. I remember when she got her first job outside the house, she was an Avon Lady. She walked her entire route and that was in all kinds of weather. I remember home made bread, hand made clothes, and so much more. Energy.........and then some. She didn't have a computer or time saving devices like we all have; she didn't have older family members to babysit because she needed or wanted a night of peace, or time with the girls. No, that's not what women in her time did. They were a mother and a wife full time.......... 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Etiquette
Mom taught me Etiquette.......from table manners (don't put your elbows on the table, don't chew with your mouth full, don't interrupt adults, put your napkin in your lap, break your bread into 3 pieces and only butter the piece you're currently eating after putting butter on your plate, ask to be excused from the table, don't eat until every one has been served, on a date don't order the most expensive item on the menu, always thank your hostess, dance with everyone who asks you to dance, go out with the first person who asks you (thinking of school dances, you can't say no to one and then accept from another.........very bad form), someone should always thank and dance with the adult chaperons, don't say you don't like something to the hostess when being serve dinner---eat lightly and take small portions, and I'm sure there were other things..

Oh my yes....another one I remember is, don't flop in your chair or sofa, sit...there really is a difference. Don't put your feet on the furniture with or without shoes on..........and always give up your chair or place in line to someone who is your elder.

One year she got me a book about proper etiquette which I found accidentally before she had a chance to wrap it for Christmas. I know there were other things in the book that don't come rolling off my tongue at the moment.

I've passed along many of these traditional rules to my daughter in her growing up years. In her college years she told me how handy they had come in when she was in very adult situations which made her comfortable with her behavior.

Thanks Mom! You know I think this came out when our daughter taught a table manner class for her 5th graders--- Right down to how to set the table. The final, was in fact when she prepared a special breakfast for them and they served each other.

Mother's are indeed very special; cherish them.

**if you're reading my blog for the first time, you may not know I lost my mother a few short weeks ago. You can scroll back a bit and read more.

Camping, Creativty, and Courage

Mom and Dad, the day after the wedding of my youngest nephew, summer before last. This photo taken in my older brothers and SIL's back yard where we all just chilled after the wedding, the rehearsal dinner. We were celebrating hubby and my Anniversary (35), younger brother's Mike and his wife Dee's Anniversary and both of their birthdays, AND the end of chemo for young Janet...many of you will remember my niece Janet and her battle with bone cancer.

Remember the good times, which aside from my nature; Mom said in some of her last moments.

Camping:
Mike, Mom and Dad and I were camping locally on an Island that we got to from our small fishing boat. Took several trips to get the 4 of us, and our camping equipment there. The Island was soft and sandy and we were the ONLY people on it. Soooooooo cool. (older brother Chuck was working and couldn't go). Mike and Dad fished and Mom and I set up camp, made dinner and did our thing. Sleeping on the soft sand in our tent was comfy.....

Mom and Dad were up having their morning coffee at the picnic table, Mike and I racked out. Next up me. Sorta. As I started out of the tent (no doubt to make my way to the woods to go potty), bees surrounded me. Quickly I zipped the tent shut and yelled at Mike to wake up. Mom and I decided, with Mikes help the bees were waking up. The bees that lived in the sand, that were asleep when we pitched our tent. So, I jumped back in the tent to help Mike hit the floor of the tent to stun or better yet kill those bees. Mom and Dad were at the ready to drop the tent poles the minute we escape. Naturally, we're all moving fast; and laughing.

Whew, made it. Bees stunned, escape made, tent downed super fast and moved quickly off the nests.

Some how, we all managed not to get stung.

Creativity:
I know anyone who knows me is immediately thinking, knitting and crocheting. Sure, Mom taught me to knit when I was very young and that will always be with me. She didn't teach me to crochet; but......being creative is more than that. Being creative with how you cook, how you stretch the family budget to get the most for the dollar. You know, look in the fridge...not much there. Take a look in the cupboards...even less and still make a meal so the family you love will have something to eat. And really not just something; but a balanced meal. Being creative means taking clothing and furniture and making something worthwhile from it.

The dining room table still in use at Mom and Dad's house is a table Mom rescued from the curbside when we were young. We lived in half a duplex, a rented duplex. The older woman next door had died and her place was being emptied. She was the owner. A table carried from her basement in parts (legs and top separate, with burn holes we were told had been used by the guys to play poker) held possibilities for my Mother. She got help to carry the table to our basement. She spent months working on it. Cleaning it, sanding it, filling the holes with wood putty, staining it, and using a nail made what looked like a knot hole in a couple of larger holes. She and Dad put the table together. It's Oak, it's beautiful. The family ate more meals there then I can count. I don't remember how many leaves there are; but a huge number. As the family grew with us kids getting married; we could still all sit around this table at Thanksgiving.
Fine china, linen table cloth and the family around that table is a memory I will never forget.

Courage:
The courage Mom showed at the hospital is something to marvel at. She never cried, not when they put in 3 different chest tubes, not when she wasn't able to speak due to a respirator being inserted a 2nd time, not when she watched them hang the 16th unit of blood, or when they had to get ultrasound to help place her 4th arterial line because her veins were so bad. In her long 7 week hospital stay, she never ate a meal. She had a feeding tube and went weeks without water except for a swab in her mouth, or an occasional pop cycle. When she had so much fluid in her system that it oozed out her pores she showed courage. When she had the opposite problem and had so many tubes/hole that she drank a swallow of juice and it came out her side, she showed courage. When she made the decision that it was time to stop all the medical intervention; she showed courage. Not a tear did she shed.

Just some of the things I will always remember that start with the letter C.

Love you Mom