Let's Remember the Great Women Who Have Inspired Our Lives

As we approach Mother's Day and you prepare to celebrate your mother, mother-in-law, ladies who have been "like a mother" to you, or even your daughters (my daughter, Elizabeth, is a wonderful mom), I'm sure you'll be giving thanks for all they've done and the indelible influence they've had on your life.

Aren't we blessed?

Remembering Mama

My mother was one of the most capable women I've ever known.  The oldest of six children, if Mama didn't already know how to do something, she learned it or created her own method to accomplish it.  She could cook, bake, and sew, and also painted in watercolors and acrylics.  She lent her soprano voice to the church choir, taught Sunday school, led Bible studies, and managed church social events.  She was an accomplished public speaker.

Mama was born at the height of the Great Depression in the back bedroom of her grandparents' house in rural Mariposa County, California.  When it was time for my grandma to take her baby daughter home, she walked across the yard to the barn, where my grandparents were living at the time.  It was better than being forced to live in their car.

My mother began first grade in a one-room school just down the road from where she was born, walking with her older cousins each day.  Just before World War II, my grandfather (who had taught himself surveying) was able to get work in the valley south of Fresno, leveling land and laying irrigation for new farms, part of the emerging "breadbasket" of central California.  Mama and her brothers continued school there.  At Hanford High School, she sang in the choir (which staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance during her senior year) and was co-captain of the debate team.

Mama's best friend in high school was April Anderson, who was surprised after their graduation with the news that she had cousins in Trinidad, at that time part of the British West Indies.  (Her uncle had been out of touch with his family since leaving for South America in the early 1920s.)  My mother had been wanting a pen pal, so she began writing to April's cousin Alice.  When Alice's older brother immigrated to the U.S. in early 1955, he lived with his aunt and cousins for a few weeks until he could get his own place.

Mama and Alice's brother Robert were married in 1959!

Mama held many jobs throughout her life – operator for Pacific Telephone (back when they still manually connected calls), secretary, bookkeeper, tax preparer, primary school instructional aide, caterer, restaurateur, and finally trainer and supervisor in the Health and Human Services Department of Yuba County, California.

Mama enjoyed music, preferring 50's crooners, Broadway musicals, and popular classical works.  She liked to visit craft shows and art galleries.  She was a reader, especially of historical fiction.  As a young woman, she played tennis and loved to go dancing.  Her favorite vacations were on the California coast, particularly in the Mendocino/Fort Bragg area.

Anyone who knew my mother knew that if she said she'd do something, it was done to a high standard and with elegance and artistic flair.  She wasn't physically demonstrative, but showed affection through service, loyalty, and faithfulness.  She was the person who remembered everyone's birthdays and anniversaries, took the time to write cards and letters, and planned gifts and treats for every occasion.  Anything extra my siblings and I needed – from music lessons, to costumes and uniforms, to orthodontia – she figured out how to provide on our always-limited budget.

To this day, I sometimes encounter situations or questions which make me think, "I wish I could call Mama and ask her.  She'd know... or she'd figure something out."  I relied on her much more than I acknowledged at the time.  That such a person could end her days suffering from Lewy body dementia is incredibly poignant.  My memories of Mama will always focus on the many talents she developed and her tireless service to others.

Over to you

I imagine that many of you could tell riveting stories about your own wonderful mothers.  I hope you'll take time to remember and share them this weekend.

Over the years, I've dedicated two books to my mother, The Minimalist Wardrobe and volume 4 of my Minimalist Basics series, Exploring Minimalism.*  It would make my Mother's Day if you purchased one of them.  Thank you!

* This blog is reader-supported.  If you buy through my links, I may earn a small commission.