Mom

Today would have been Mom's 99th birthday and I'm remembering her. Mom was a housewife until I was a junior in high school and she returned to her nursing career. She was proud of being a nurse but I remember her most as "Mom". She was always there when I got home from school. I thought she was really pretty when she put lipstick on- usually red. Her hair was always a medium length similar to the early Myrna Loy movies. Mom remembered everyone's birthdays and anniversaries. She made wonderful apple pie and rhubarb pie. I loved her lamb curry over rice and that was what I usually requested for my birthday dinner. She took care of her mother in our home for many years until her last year when more care was needed. Mom and Dad always had a big garden - both veggies and flowers and at times fruit & nut trees. She canned some things herself, gave away a lot to neighbors but she always took our green beans to a factory where they had machines that you dumped your beans in and it cut off the ends and turned them out on a conveyor belt for you to place into cans which they then sealed. One year Mom and I went to process the green beans only to discover we had planted a different kind of bean and the wonder machines didn't work on them. We walked up the street to a hardware store to buy two paring knives and then prepared all the beans by hand. It took quite awhile but I remember that being good, quality time with Mom. Another fond memory was on my sixteenth birthday. Mom was working then so she bought a nice cake with happy birthday on it. My favorite "aunts" were there. Mom brought the cake box out from her bedroom only to discover our cat had peeked her head into the box and eaten a little corner of the cake. We all had a good laugh at the surprise on Mom's face. Fortunately there was still lots of cake without any nibbles on it. I appreciate her soft heart and thoughtfulness. There were things I didn't understand about Mom but that fades into unimportant as I do remember the important things.