Friday, May 15, 2009

My Mother and Mother-in-law


The picture above is my mother, Gladys, when she was a young woman. Mothers are special people, and I was blessed with a wonderful mother. Unfortunately, my mother died too young. She was hit by a car as she was crossing the street just weeks before her 65th birthday. That was nearly twenty-six years ago, and I still miss her. Although my mother was reserved and often stood in the shadow of my dad and even my three brothers and me, at times, she had an inner strength born of her faith that carried her through the difficult times, including the death of her husband ten years prior to her own death. She always opened her home to a myriad of family and friends who remember her hospitality. She is my heroine because in her quiet way she supported me and gave me the confidence in my younger years to reach for my dreams. Because of the encouragement she gave me when I was growing up, I persevered in my adult years through many rejections, until I finally sold my first book. She was gone before I decided to write a book and try to get it published, but the lessons I learned from her helped me not to give up. I just wish she were here to see one of my books on the shelf of a bookstore.



This next picture is my mother-in-law Mary on her 75th birthday several years ago. She was born on Christmas day. So every Christmas we celebrate two birthdays. I am also blessed to have a wonderful mother-in-law, especially since my mother passed away early in my married life. My mother-in-law has also been an encouragement to me in my effort to get published. No one was more excited on the day that I sold my first book. She had read a number of my manuscripts over the years and still doesn't understand why I haven't sold the manuscript that won that Golden Heart. About eight years ago we moved to Florida and now live two miles from her. We are so thankful we are here because she has had some health issues in the past couple of years, and we have been able to help her because we live close. Throughout most of her life, she has been an energetic woman and has had difficulty realizing that she is getting older and can't do all the things she used to do. Despite age and health issues that have slowed her down, she still loves to play bridge every chance she gets. She is a delight to everyone who knows her.

I have been twice blessed to have a wonderful mother, then a wonderful mother-in-law. Tell us about your mother or mother-in-law.

4 comments:

  1. I lost my mom 13 years ago but she was an amazing person. Because my father worked for an oil company as a geologist we moved a lot and he was gone a lot especially in the early years of their marriage and family years. But I never heard my mother complain about a single thing. When it came time to move she made things as easy as possible for all of us. And while she was the chief disciplinarian she was always fair in the required punishment.

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  2. EllenToo,
    My dad wasn't gone a lot, but we did move a lot. My mother never complained either. She even lived in houses while my dad was remodeling them. As a kid, it never occurred to me that there was an inconvenience in living that way. I didn't realize it until I had my own house to clean.

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  3. Now that you mention remodeling houses I remember only one house they had to add an extra room onto {and this was before television and all those shows that has people doing that}. They had to add a bedroom and bath.

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  4. I loved my mother-in-law, as she accepted me for whom I was. She passed away 1991, and we had the opportunity to be there with her. As a daughter-in-law, I got 5 minutes alone with her and expressed my love to her, how she was the best mother-in-law anyone could have. She was such a wonderful woman.

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