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Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

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Memories of Mom: My mentoring mom

The Columbian
Published: May 10, 2014, 5:00pm

My mom was a very young lady when she committed to my Dad in marriage at the ages of fifteen and nineteen years respectively. Our family consisted of a Mom, Dad and three children. We never realized how capable and inexperienced this mom was as she provided all our needs including and very important, a healthy spiritual background.

The pleasure with having a young Mom resulted in her joining in on our juvenile activities but remembering that she provided the mentoring and disciplining that was necessary to keep us from being “buddies”. The fun and entertainment was found at most part within the home. Television was not yet invented and the weekly Saturday matinee was available for only 10 cents. She provided us with and joined in with our picture puzzle parties, listening to the special radio programs such as “Green Hornet” and “The FBI in Peace and War.” These programs allowed us to use our imagination as we work on the puzzle or just relating to each other.

Mom loved silly riddles and rhymes and the following is one I especially liked, smiling whenever I hear 1-2-3 mentioned. “1-2-3, mother caught a flea, the flea died, mother cried, 1-2-3.”

We were taught how to save for our annual outing to the amusement park along with other outside entertainment which was spaced and planned as the income allowed. When I finally reached my high school years, this was when I realized how well my mother managed the budget with her thriftiness and frugality considering her sixth-grade education. I never had the feeling of being in need of anything and mom taught us this very talent. To this day, I love being practical and thrifty because I love a good bargain.

Here I am now 70 years old and have the pleasure of remembering a secure environment in this family as we did family things together. Mom making our clothes, dad working and many times helping with the domestic chores. I remember him baking cakes and scrubbing floors. This may sound too good to be true in this day and age as you may very well agree but the healthy part of this family was we stayed together.

Mom and dad ended their married life together one year short of their golden anniversary because of his death to cancer. This left us all with the shared memories of home comings and family gatherings.

Read more stories in the “Memories of Mom” series here.

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