Remember My Wonderful Mom On Mother's Day

What I remember most about my mom??? Her daily consistency and devotion to God, her husband, and her family.  She wasted nothing, never asked for or expected much......up at 5 A.M. each day, cooking 3 meals every day, taking care of her chickens, working non-stop every spare minute in her 1 acre garden, harvesting and canning/freezing veggies during the growing season, and after supper, a rocking chair with her reading light on while she read each day for about an hour from her Bible.  She did all this with NO air conditioning (only fans).  

Then during the winter months, after her garden had stopped producing, she would put up her quilt frame and would hand sew quilts every day throughout the winter months.  She gave a quilt to every child, every grandchild and every great grand child. 

To my mom a treat was being able to attend church, gone once or twice a month to her favorite ice cream store, Sabine Valley, get a single dip of orange pineapple ice cream, and eating out at Dairy Queen maybe once every 3 months.  

She also enjoyed having neighbors over ..... we all sat on the long front porch, in a gentle breeze, the kids being quiet listening to all the great stories told by neighbors and my parents. All this while I was turning one handle of an ice cream freezer and one of my brothers turning the handle on another one.  Homemade ice cream made with 'raw' milk, mom's chicken eggs ..... the only thing bought was the sugar.  One freezer of vanilla and one freezer of fresh peach.

My mom was a very happy woman and never said a negative word about anyone .... just the way she was .... she lived and obeyed God''s Word to the best she could.  Her life was simple, fulfilling, poor, but none of us never were hungry, nor did we EVER accept or get any kind of welfare from the government.  She did donate a lot of her canned food to children's orphanage and to anyone she knew that might need it.

And, most important to her, she never missed going to church every Wednesday night and twice on Sunday.

She was a modest woman and never learned to drive a car until around 60. She could shoot a pistol and a rifle and was a lady / mom that spoke softly and but meant everything she said.

Mom married my Dad at age 15 and was married to him for almost 70 years.  They went on their honeymoon all dress up in a horse drawn fancy buggy. My Mom wearing her Sunday Hat and wedding dress and my Dad a suit and tie with cowboy hat.

One thing I never heard was a curse word come from her mouth.  When she was frustrated or upset, her strongest word was:  "Shoot".  When Mom said "Shoot", it was best to give her some space for a few minutes.

Mom and my Dad came to every football game I played in, no matter how far or what time they would get there.  I enjoyed looking up in the stands and seeing both of them there....it was an inspiration for me to play even harder.  They both enjoyed being around the players as well as school kids.  On the return trips from our away games most of the time we stopped at a truck stop for hamburgers and chicken fried steaks.  Both my parents were right there with me and all the kids. 

Just a short tribute to my WONDERFUL MOM WHO TAUGHT ME SO MUCH WITHOUT SAYING A LOT.  She lead by example and good deeds, not by words.