Little Things My Mom Would Do....

These dreary, cold, stuck inside winter days has me really missing my Mom.  For the last 2 1/2 years of her life she lived with us and then passed away from complications from a stroke 3 years ago.  We would spend afternoons playing gin, or Yatzee, or Scrabble or dice games.  She loved playing games as much as I did and not only did it keep us entertained, but it probably kept our minds sharp.  Now I settle for games on an app on my I-Phone, just not the same.  But I will recommend one that I play daily....it's called 7 Words or Seven Words....not sure which but if you are interested I am sure you can search it.  It is free.  There is a new puzzle each day giving you a list of clues to specific words, revealing how many letters are in each word.  There are groups of 2 or 3 letters listed below the clues. Your challenge is to figure out and spell the words by putting the letters together. You can get a hint so many times and then after so many times if you want hints you have to pay for them.  I think it is $1.99 for unlimited hints.  And because I wasn't satisfied with just one puzzle a day, since I no longer have my Mom to play games with, I anted up and bought a year's worth for $2.99.  Personally I love word games much more than number games, I think that must come from my poor showing while in school of any subject that had anything to do with math.

The tea set was my Mom's....actually I gave it to her for Christmas one year.  And when she passed away it became mine.  I cherish it because I know how much she loved it.

I catch myself now doing little things that my Mom would do.  It's true you do become your Mom, intentionally or not.  But as I do these "little things" it strikes a chord in how much I truly miss her, especially during this cold, shut in the house time of the year.

I now heat my dinner plate or bowl in the microwave before serving food on it...she "hated" cold plates...claimed they made the food cold too fast.  She was right of course.  With our frigid weather we have had lately and because my dish cabinet is on the north wall of our house, the plates and bowls come out of that cabinet mighty cold...so yeah, it's great if you are having ice cream...not so if you are having a hot meal.  Mom always heated her plate, now I am.  Little things....

Just finished a good book....you need to read this one, "The Husband's Secret".  An interesting plot twist at the end and a great "wrap-up".  I am not fond of books that kinda leave you hangin' making you figure out what exactly happened.  I like it tidied up, but also not too quickly either.  Some books are like that too....they just all of a sudden are over and done, wham.  It's like the author decided, "ok, I have written enough, now it's time to end"....don't like that either.  There are soooo many books out there that I am itching to read, and that is a goal of mine this year is to read more.  I used to swallow books, then I got into photography and blogging and the books kinda got shoved to the back shelf...so to speak.

OK, speaking of writing too much, I have done exactly that with this post.  And fyi...all images were taken with the 50mm f/1.4 lens.  That is the great thing about this lens, it can be really dark in your home, but with this lens you can still take decent shots, and my Nikon D7100 helps too.

Found this great quote on Pinterest......
    "Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than silence"
So now I am going to be silent.

Until next time.....

Strong Enough

My Mom passed away 3 years ago this month.  As like many of you who have lost their Mothers, I miss her every single solitary day.  As I write this tears are forming and soon they will be running down my cheeks, blurring my vision.  But my vision of my Mom remains clear, she was one strong cookie.  The above quote describes her perfectly.  She was a single Mother, divorced with a small child in the early 1940's, not an easy time to be a single Mom.  My "father" decided when he returned from the war he did not want to be married any longer, leaving my Mother and me to make our own way in the world without him.  I don't know why I included myself in that last statement, I was a mere child, a toddler when my father left us.  My Mother was the one that made "our" way in this world, certainly not me. Probably in somewhat of a disgrace my Mother left her home in Kansas and moved to Amarillo, TX where her older sister now lived.  Mom and I had a small apartment, one bedroom as I faintly remember, she worked full time and I stayed in a nursery all day.  Without a car, Mom and I would ride a bus to the nursery, then she would continue on to work, only to repeat, in reverse, again in the evening, 5 days a week. It wasn't until I was 4 years old that Mom met and eventually married the only man I ever knew as a father.

They lived a happy life, married for over 50 years until my "father" (he did officially adopt me) died of heart failure in June, 2001, leaving my Mother alone again.  Only this time there was no baby to worry about, but by this time Mom was in her 80's.   She continued to live in her home, kept busy with her friends, still drove, until she fell ill with pneumonia when she was 89.  At this time Mom lived in McAllen, TX, way down in the "valley", not an easy place to travel to if you are in a hurry.  No direct flights, always changing planes in either Dallas or Houston so when she fell ill my brother and I decided that perhaps she should live closer to one of us.  He lived in Houston at the time so she began looking at "assisted living" places in Houston.

After she was released from the hospital and then rehab I asked her to come stay with us for the summer, time for her to completely recover.  But as time moved forward it became obvious that she should not live on her own any longer.  Eventho she had recovered from the pneumonia it had taken a toll on her body, she never regained the strength she had prior to her illness.  At that same time, my sweetie began to really decline from Alzheimer's. Mom would stay with him while I ran errands, and when I was able to join friends for an occasional evening out, Mom would prepare dinner and stay with my sweetie, entertaining him until I returned home.  She was my rock when "things" started to really get bad.  She and I spent many hours playing Scrabble or Yahtzee or Gin Rummy, entertaining both of us.  Every evening at 5:00 PM we would have our glass of wine together.  Without her for conversation I think I would have gone stir crazy.  My sweetie had by this time really lost his ability to carry on any kind of conversation.

After 6 months of staying with us, she made the decision to sell her home and move in permanently. She lived with us for about 2 1/2 years prior to her death and most of that time she was in fairly good health.  She had congestive heart problems which she battled with many trips to the heart hospital for treatments and an occasional stay, but she loved to shop, go out to eat & have her glass of wine each evening.

I had moved away from my parents as soon as I married, only seeing them about once a year sometimes twice, so being with my Mom again after all those years of being apart was a blessing I will always treasure.  I grew to know the woman, and what a strong woman she was and for that I am grateful.

"What my mother did - not said - gave me the courage to look ahead."  ~  Ron Burton

Until next time.....

Week in Review 1st Week ~ October 30-November 5, 2011 & Andy Rooney & My Mom

I just stole this idea right from Deb Duty, a really wonderful photographer....she (and I am sure many more) does something very similar to this each week and I always thought it was such a great idea.  So, Deb, if you read or see this, just remember that copying is considered a great compliment....and that is exactly the way I meant it.  I may tweak this as time goes on, but at least I made the first step in keeping up with weekly photos.  A great way, along with blogging, flickr, various classes, etc of keeping a record of my life.  I wish I would have been doing this forever, but better late than never. 

Two really great people died during this week in November....Andy Rooney, yesterday and my Mom a year ago today.  Andy lived his life to the fullest and so did my Mom.  Andy was 92, my Mom would have been 92, both had wise things to say, both had long & happy marriages with each of their spouses passing before them.  Andy wrote books, my Mom should have.  Many will miss Andy Rooney, I miss my Mom.  May you always rest in peace and God bless you both. 

"We are always the same age inside."  ~  Gertrude Stein

"Until next time,