Category: Mom

Day 17 · Mom · NaBloPoMo 2012 · Pioneer · US Citizen

Pioneer

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NaBloPoMo 2012 – Day 17

My Uncle Jake called my Mom a pioneer.  This took place in a conversation almost 3 years ago at Thanksgiving.  I never thought of her like that before he said it.  Pioneer.
My Mom, Lore.  I love this picture of her.  Young, scared, but happy. She came to the United States in 1956.  This was the picture used for her visa.  She had to be sponsored to enter the U.S. at that time.  Her Uncle Max (who lived in Chicago, IL) sponsored her.  She wanted something different than what was offered in West Germany.  
I just saw her as my Mom.  All of my friends heard her accent.  I did with some words, like video.  She pronounced the v like a w.  It was always very funny to me to hear her say it.  
With the days of the election just a week ago, I have been thinking about my Mom and the move she made.  Going to a world where she didn’t speak the language, had very little money, and schooled as a seamstress must have been terrifying.  
I can’t imagine moving to another country.  Visiting countries are hard enough with the transit systems, and laws.  She did it.  Not by anyones else’s standards but her own.  She conquered, and achieved a life in US.  She became a U.S. Citizen in 1963, after becoming a Nanny for a family in Connecticut. She went to Kindergarten with the child she watched so that she could learn the language.  
Who does that now?  Immigrants want us to speak their language (but that is an entire blog in itself).  She learned.  We expect so much from our country.  People want hand outs, and help out with things we used to work three jobs to achieve.  
Maybe we should think more like my Mom, and become a pioneer.  Conquer. 
Just a thought.
Blessings,
Jerry Ann
love · Mom · Mother's Day

Letter from a Mother to a Daughter

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This was going around Facebook, and I thought I would copy it here. Fitting time of year with Mother’s Day coming in a few weeks.  I miss my Mom, and am sad to say that I was impatient with her many times.  


Love your Mom while she is here.  
Blessings,
Jerry Ann






Letter from a Mother to a Daughter: 


“My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”… Just listen, please. 


Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep. When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl? 


When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way… remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day… the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. 


Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you. And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad… just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I have always had for you, I just want to say, I love you… my darling daughter. “

anniversary · Mom · Mother

Anniversary

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Today marks the fifth anniversary of my Mother’s passing.  In so many ways, it seems like forever ago.

I sit here and think about all of the things she could help with, or be here for, and end up making myself more upset than normal.  Stephen registered for his high school classes last night.  Carmen has her Senior Cotillion in March, then graduating high school in May. Reconnecting with family in Texas.  Big stuff.  And then there are the things that she cooked or how she would do something.

Having lost her so early (she was 69 – me 39)–hurts, today especially.  I would really love to hug her one more time, or have her play with my hair again.  Yell at me or the kids for silly things.  Even with it being difficult when I was young, she was a remarkable woman.  I can say that now.  I didn’t appreciate all that she did when she was here.  Regret.  Especially with things that she did and never spoke about.  Things that I had no idea about.

Death is hardest on those it leaves behind.

She believed in a Savior that gives us eternal life.  I believe in a Savior that gives me eternal life.  I know where she is, and that she is no longer suffering.  There are days that I just miss her.  Today I miss her.

Changes · Mom · Random Stuff · Random Thoughts

Changes

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Life changes…

David will be starting a new job on Monday.  It is a great opportunity for him professionally, and will enable us to climb out of our debt hole just a bit quicker.  Changes…for me as well at work.  Trying to stay focused on the organization of the house, getting things ready the evening before, memorizing Bible verses, doing my bible study, and…laundry.  ha.

Today was a hair day.  I love hair days, you can change your hair as often as you want.  You could have blond, red, auburn, brown, black hair in a matter of minutes.  Short, long (extensions) doesn’t really matter any more either.

This picture was taken on New Year’s Eve.  David and I celebrated with dear friends (and neighbors), and had a great time.   One of my favorite colors is pink.

My hair used to be thick, brown with highlights when I was younger.  I am thinning (I do not like this at all), and try to style to hide it.  Men can have thin hair, and they are called distinguished.  Well, not me.  My mother was a hair dresser/stylist/beautician in a small town.  I grew up having my hair cut (not always the way I wanted), but whenever I wanted, and she loved to play with color.  When a new product came in, she would want to try it out on me.  I loved/love being able to change my hair so quickly.  Changing habits or physical appearance (body) is much harder to do.

So…my new do: 

The picture is from a iphone, and a self portrait (with the help of a bathroom mirror).  So…I love the color, especially this time of year.  I am a creature of habit with my hair, and normally default back to styling one way.  I do like the way this frames my face (I have lost a little bit of weight), and thins me.

So…what do you think?

Blessings,
Jerry Ann

beginnings · family · Hutch · Mom · Mother

Hutch

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Origins of this hutch are unknown.  My mother had it shipped (bought approximately in 1955 – Germany) when she moved to my father’s family home in Texas.  It was part of a set with a credenza (which she had, and I have now).

Mom left it with my grandparents when she moved.  It is 7 feet by 5 feet and inches, and approximately 25 inches deep.  So considering its size, I can understand why it wasn’t moved.  After time, she couldn’t move it (my grandmother used it). When Mamaw passed, Mom wanted it shipped, but it was too costly.  Time passed, and Katrina and Ike hit Houston.  A tree fell on the home and due to many reasons the hutch was exposed for the past 5 years.

My Uncle and Aunt sold the land that the house is on, and my Uncle Jake graciously offered to take it apart and store it until I could travel with a vehicle large enough to accommodate it.

We decided to rent a large enough SUV or mini-van so that the hutch would not be exposed to the elements any further.  We rented a Ford Flex.

I have to say, that this is one of the most comfortable vehicles I have ridden/driven in a long time!  It is very boxy looking from the outside, but oh, the inside…7 passengers…and all could have the same amount of leg room—it isn’t tiny!  Oh, and the heated seats and Sirius radio are wonderful extras. 
Hutch….sections of it laying in our garage.  After hearing about this for the majority of my life, and not remembering what it looked it, I could not stand it any longer —-we started cleaning it and trying to find a wall to place it against.  
It has two drawers that were lined with felt and blocks positioned so that your silver could be stored.  It was too far gone, and we decided to remove the felt lining.  It was a tedious task, but well worth it.  We took care to remove as much of the glue as possible.  
This is the base.  We cleaned the pieces with Murphy Oil Soap mixed with hot water.  The interior pieces were gorgeous, and showed what the piece should look like without the exposure.  We moved around the dinette table in the kitchen (it has drop sides) and moved it against a short wall.  We placed the base piece along the largest part of the wall.
 Hutch empty with side doors opened.
Doors opened and loaded with the majority of my Mom’s table linens, and china.  
It needs to be cleaned again, and I will more than likely clean it with the oil soap several times before applying anything else to it.  I am in awe of its size, and every time I walk into the kitchen I touch it.  I can’t help myself.  I am thrilled that David and I took the time to clean it and reassemble it.  It has meant so much to reconnect with my Father’s family, and for me to connect in a different way with my Mom.  I  don’t know what she went through, and only she and the Lord Almighty will ever know.  But I love that I can pass this down to Carmen and Stephen, and share a story of family. 
Blessings.
friends · memories · Mom · Random Stuff

Friendship

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Why do you need your bestie?  Yes, best friend.

Phone…I have a bench from my Mom that she referred to as a “gossip bench.”  It used to have the phone on it’s shelf, and underneath the shelf a telephone directory (all of her family, and important numbers), and a telephone book.  You could sit by the phone (well, you had to – the phone cord was short and connected to the wall), and chat for hours.  This is before cordless phones, and most certainly, cell phones.  I remember sitting there for hours chatting to friends.  I truly can talk for hours, and hours.  Talk about troubles, funnies, irritants, and just general stuff.

Friend. How often do you talk to your friend?  Sometimes I wish that telephones were still connected to walls.  So you would need to sit and think about what was being said.  You took time to talk.  Not always on the way to the store, or later.

I look at my bench, and always think of my friends.  Now it is a spot for things to be dumped, and not ever in its appropriate place.  Or for the cat to sleep away the hours.  I wish there was a phone, and time to spend hours on the phone with my best friend.