Meet My Mom

On January 29th my mother would have been 90 years old. She has been gone for five years, and I still miss her very much. Each year on her birthday -- and then again on her death date I reflect about her more than usual. I remember when I was 11 years old and mom, David and I were alone in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Family dynamics are very complicated, and suffice it to say, we were alone. We lived in a little house trailer on Mrs Smith's property between Scottsbluff and Gering Nebraska. We had no car, only a bus for transportation. Our guardian angel, Mrs. Anna Smith had taken us under her wing and befriended us. I remember an especially cold winter day and my mom had no heating oil and no money to buy any -- even if she could have gotten to town. She bundled us up in our warmest clothes and we all three huddled in bed to keep warm. I wasn't worried -- my mom knew everything and I had complete confidence in her knowing what to do next. She seemed very "mature" to me, but now I look back and realize she was the ripe old age of 28!! I don't remember the following events, I only know she found a way for all three of us to survive. Maybe she had to humble herself and ask for help. I don't know where that would have been, as there were not many "do-gooders" in those days. People pretty much solved their own problems and didn't expect the government to do it for them. It wasn't long after that that she went to work at Brown's Beanery in Gering. This was a second shift job and she had to walk the couple of miles to get there and back. David and I were home alone after school and she always had a hot meal waiting for us, sitting on the oil stove sitting just inside the front door. It always smelled so good -- and the browned potatoes she had once in awhile had a flavor I can not duplicate.. I wonder if it was the flavor -- or the love they represented? At any rate I grew up wondering how my mom got so smart and how she knew the answer to everything. Was she a perfect human being? Of course not, but she was the closest thing to it I have ever met!! I wouldn't have picked another mother for all the world.

PS - The day we all three huddled together in the bed to keep warm is one of happiest memories. The security, love, and warmth can not be purchased for any amount of money. It proves that the best memories are spontaneous.