Thursday, November 20, 2008

It's time to say...



My Mom passed away, it would have been her 80th birthday yesterday. She had been in the process of decline for about 10 years due to a form of Altzheimer's disease and had suffered with rheumetoid arthritis for about 30 years. I cannot say I am sad. I was on my way to visit her, about a 4 hour drive away, when she passed away. I did not know until I had arrived.

She did things that she was able to through her life, she was unusual in that she took some joy in remembering slights and would spend a goodly amount of time, looking for revenge, but she was as good of a person that she could be. She had faults like any one of us, and she had some wonderful attibutes that she was well known for. She was thrifty all her life, and she was creative. She could make just about anything that she put her mind to, from sewing to building things, doing upholstery to make old furniture new, to raising chickens and growing a 1/2 acre garden, to being an amazing cook. She was an amazing hostess and took pride in presenting a meal or afternoon tea, for friends and family. She was fun and funny, but at the same time could say a sharp word and then laugh at you when you showed that it hurt. She was a great teacher and expected her children to grow up and fly away, she felt that it was her job to get us out into the cruel world and be as tough as we could be. Sometimes it was very hard to be my Mother's daughter, but most of the time, I was glad she was who she was.

3 comments:

Caron said...

Susan,
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. My heart goes out to you. I lost my mother in April of 2007, and she and your mom sound like they were a lot alike. Hang in there...

Hugs from Michigan!
Caron

paula, the quilter said...

Please accept my sympathy of the loss of your mother.

Nanci said...

I just read this as part of my search through your blog. Thank you for sharing insites of your mother.
Don't you just love those photos or our parents when they were young?
Somehow it even looked like a gentler kinder time.
I absolutely love the fashions of the 30s and 40s.