My blogging the rest of the week will be sporadic as last night my mother, who was just short of turning 97 years old, passed away.
My mother was born in County Sligo Ireland and came to America when she was 16 years old. Her and my Dad were married for 57 years until he passed away back in 1994. She leaves behind four children, twelve grand children, eight great grand children and more neices and nephews than I can count both here in the U.S., Ireland and England.
She was like no other woman of her generation, if you think I’m an opinionated, my mom had me beat. She did read this blog once and awhile and didn’t care for the language I sometime use and she felt I was a little too much of a wise ass but between her and my dad we were raised in such a way that you were free to express yourself as wanted. When most mom’s fought with their son’s to get haircuts, mine encouraged me to grow mine long. She couldn’t stand Rock music but never told me to turn it down. Our home was filled with books and music, lot’s of friends and lots and lots of good times.
Even though she lived a long and fabulous life, as a son my heart aches but she would smack me upside the head if she knew I’d moped around after her death.
After my dad died mom was asked how she was coping living alone. Her answer always was “I don’t live alone, I live by myself” She was never alone there was always someone around her, either me or my brothers, my sister, my wife my sister in law, her grand kids, her great grand kids her friends, it was because of that whenever she would see an elderly person pushing a shopping cart or walking to the store alone, or god forbid eating a meal by themselves, it sadden her. She loved it when we’d take her to the mall how we fought over who was going to pay for her dress or shoes? She said she hated it when we made a fuss over her but I never believed it. How could we not? She wonder how is it she could pick the phone call one of us and get picked up and taken anywhere she wanted? We told her it was payback for the way she took care of us our whole lives.
If you go to a house of worshiper this weekend in your prayers think of all the people in the world that are alone and have no family to watch over them. Prayer for parents who are estranged from their children, that they can find a way to settle whatever difference it is that split them apart.
That’s was another lesson my mother taught us, always look out for the less fortunate because of how blessed we were.
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This post was written by kranepool on March 31, 2010
