When I realized that today was February 23 and my mother's birthdate - I went back to my 2006 blog about Mama last February. Rereading that and some of the comments reminded me of a few more things about Mama - some of them are kinda silly - but they were Mama.*Mama cleaned house everyday except Sunday, but even on Sunday she cleaned the bathroom. * She had a strict schedule for laundry. Monday, Wednesday, & Friday was wash day - and I remember the old wringer washer and hanging everything out on the clothes line. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday was ironing day.
*I remember when she would sometimes take us (Jimmy & I) on the bus down to Cherokee Street to do some shopping and she always let us browse the 5&10 (dime store) if we were good.
*Jimmy said she never drove but actually she did once - to my house. She was going to babysit Jennifer while I went to racquetball but when she got to the house she was a nervous wreck and we ended up taking her to the doctor - and she never drove again.
*She didn't have much patience for tears - she would tell me to hush up that crying or she'd give me something to cry about.
*Although she had worked the cotton fields in Tennessee, she never worked here in St. Louis except for once she decided to get a job at the Alligator factory a block away. She lasted 3 days and decided the extra money wasn't worth it.
*I remember Saturday mornings after the housework was done (we were expected to clean our rooms every Saturday morning) and we would be doing the ironing or finally just resting, we would put on her records of Johnny Mathias, Tennessee Ernie Ford, or Floyd Cramer.
*I remember her coming to visit me once after I was married with all three kids and after about 30 minutes she told daddy, "Well Jim, we better get going so Ann can vacuum." - I knew that was a hint but I've never adopted her housecleaning routines.
*Mama liked to quilt, sew, and embroidery - but no matter how hard I tried to learn any of it, she always ended up finishing up whatever I would start.
*And in honor of her birthday - she never wanted anything much for her birthday and I think it was because growing up they didn't get many gifts. She told me that Uncle Carl had once given her a ring for her birthday and it was really special to her because presents were so rare. She always felt bad because she had lost it one day on the lake.
Have you remembered anything else you'd like to share?
