On the eve of the anniversary of Mom's passing I thought it befitting to pay a bit of tribute to her, since I will be leaving for class in Albany today and will not return until late tomorrow night.
The above sketch is the only piece of her artwork I have out of all the countless sketches and paintings Mom did, and I cherish it as if it were a master work in a museum. Mom had such a creative spirit, and I am blessed to have received just a small portion of that from her. Now, as a woman myself, I look back on memories of her and wish I had had the opportunity to get to know the woman in her.
A few fond memories of Mom I'd like to share:
- her caramel popcorn balls and old-fashioned hot cocoa
- the warm hats and mitts she knitted us (although they were not off the fashion plate, I do remember them being warm)
- those cute cartoon boy and girl elephants she used to draw
- the clothes she used to sew for me (I'm thinking of the short sets, in particular. The dark blue one with white scottie dogs, the bright green one with red strawberries...anyone else remember these?)
- letting us call her a "dirty dog" when she won at rummy (the only time I ever remember being able to get away with talking to her like that)
- trying to teach us to draw or knit or sew
- being home alone with her when all of you were gone to school each day
- her making one of you, my lovely sisters, comb out the rat's nests I used to get in my ever-so-curly hair (that must have been a veritable nightmare for you guys...I remember Les having done it quite a few times. Man, did I ever brush my hair??...ha ha ha!)
- her playing the organ (in Toronto, Malone and Montreal); and I remember the upright piano in the family room at the house on Rt 3, but I don't remember her ever playing it. Did she?
Maybe some of you could add some of your good memories of Mom in the comments.
And finally, here is one of my meager attempts at poetry as a tribute to our Mom
Yellow Rose
Your season has passed
but your memory lives yet
in the minds of your children
who will never forget
The grace of your beauty
from without and within
only helps to remind us
what your heart had therein
All the sacrifice nothing
to the will of a mom
helps us face our own storms
with the same sort of calm
Second place took your talent
to raising your brood
making all of us mind
meant you had to be shrewd
The belle of dear Texas
in our memory still grows
like the beauty of a single
bright Yellow Rose
Rest in peace, Mom.
6 comments:
Chicken Fricassee.
It seems like a silly thing to remember, I know.
I asked Tracy to make it for me the first time about two years ago. She had never made it before, but she nailed it...right down to the dumplings. I took one bite of it and the memories just started flooding in. So did the tears. Caught me totally by surprise.
Thanks, Michele, for this creative and touching memorial.
Oh Yeah!! I forgot about Chicken Fricassee. Yeah for Tracy!!
Glad you liked it, Keith. My pleasure.
I love you!
One of my favorite memories is of Halloween! Mom would make her cut out witches, black cats, etc and hang them from the ceiling; we bob for apples in water; look for coins in flour filled pie tins, and wait for the trick or treaters to show! We'd also turn out the lights to make things spookier! If were really ambitious, we'd rake all the leaves put them in bags and "dress" the bag people up as scary beings...I really enjoyed our halloween parties...but I loved the fricasse chicken!!!!
what a beautiful tribute, Michele! I made me yearn for a rousing came of rummy with Mom. She took no mercy!!! I also loved the picture of her drawing. I've always hoped to get hold of a copy of her elephant drawings...even looked for them at Dad's once but none to be found. I do have the ink drawing of the profile of the old lady with the hat...but the elephants were my favorite. So sad.
Now that you mention it, Deb, I remember some of that Halloween stuff. I remember once putting my and it something that felt like worms (it was really cold spaghetti). I can't remember if we used blindfolds or not. And, I remember making a scarecrow kind of person stuffed with leaves to sit on the porch. Remember the record with the scary music and sounds (and stories?) on it we had?
And I vaguely remember the old lady with the hat. Tim has a really cold work of Mom's that was of an old native lady. I'm not sure, but I think she was from a National Geographic article about the Andes and their inhabitants.
When I visited Dad and Inge this past February, it was like having travelled back in a time machine somewhat, because so many of the nicknacks and pictures that were around when Mom was living were still decorating the household. It was sort of like being in our own family museum.
Hey, Deb, maybe when the kids and I come over, we can experiment with making the chicken fricassee ?? It can't be all that difficult. I think Les may have the recipe.
I don't recall the picture of her drawing. What was the setting? I might have seen one of her; it was while we lived in Toronto. She had an awesome little "studio" setup in the basement there.
I agree. It is sad that not even one set of those elephants were saved for posterity's sake.
oops that had some typos...i'm tired i guess.
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