Momma, The Heart of our Home, Part 2

Momma was not only a loving mother and wife, but she was gifted with many talents as well.
Her plans in early life did not include even having a large family. She said she expected to become a teacher and raise cats! She did get her teaching certificate but never got a school. (I suppose lacking a car (she didn't even get a license to drive until much later) or not wanting to go far away probably was part of the reason. "Boy, was that a plan that never worked out!" Instead, after she married she never worked away from home and instead of cats she raised 7 children! (and a few cats and dogs too!)
After graduation she lived and worked in Wichita, Kansas taking care of children and cleaning.
She then got a job at the Wichita Eagle and was working there when she was invited to go with some friends on a picnic. That day she met a young man who was working with a C.C.C. (Civilian Conservation Corp) group at Roaring River State Park in SW. Missouri. They spent the afternoon together. They wrote letters while he was traveling around the country and married two years later.
She loved writing poetry and wrote many heartfelt verses. Most were about everyday things such as love and family, some were spiritual and some were "just for fun". She wrote one about "A mail order puppy that arrived without a tail" and even one about "the stork bringing her two babies, instead of one"!
When I was a young teen she decided she would take up oil painting. She continued painting for the remainder of her life and there was. almost always, oil paints and "partially finished masterpieces" set up so she could work as time permitted.
At first she only painted for herself but, as time went on and many people seemed to appreciate her work, she would paint pictures as gifts and later she painted one each year that was used used as a prize in her garden clubs yearly "flower show". Her favorite subject was old "mills and waterwheels".
For quite a number of years, Dad was ill and not able to do a lot of things away from home. Mom stayed with him and never seemed to be unhappy or resentful about it. That was just the way things were and perhaps it wasn't always as you wanted but, you accepted it and did the very best you could.
When we lost Dad at 72 years old (he had a heart at tact on his birthday and died a month later) we worried about Mom being alone, But, being the person she was, she did not sit around feeling sorry for herself.
Instead she surprised all of us by becoming more active at church and that was also when she joined the local guarded club. She made many special friends and loved working with the flowers she planted. She always loved flowers and this gave her the opportunity to work with them and learn more about them than she ever had before. Her favorite flower was the rose.
She was so proud of her pretty arrangements and always took pictures of them and the many ribbons she won.
She remained living in their house for a year after Dad passed away and then, because it was just too much for her financially and to care for on her own, she sold it and moved into an apartment, only a few blocks away in the small Senior Complex that her and Dad had helped bring to their tiny community. She became the manager there and continued until shortly before she moved in with my sister Jeanie and brother-in-law just a couple of years before her death three years ago.
She loved every one of her children and grandchildren. She would start knitting months before Christmas making footies. Never in her almost Ninety-three years was there a child in the family that did not have a gift at Christmas. Many times they were homemade, but they were always well loved.
She never missed a birthday and mailed cards to everyone in the family and also wrote many letters to friends far away.
She sewed a quilt for every grandchild. They received them when they got married (and on occasion without the wedding).
The last few years of her life we were blessed to have her come to Ohio and spend several weeks before Christmas with us. It will always be a cherished time for our family.
Weekly she and I would go to the public library and she would get stacks of books which she would finish before the week was over and also every day she would do the daily cross word puzzle in our local paper.
One of my now favorite memories is of the visit the year before she passed away. I pulled a plastic bin out of the closet that was full of our grandchildrens dress-up cloths. They had pretty much stopped playing with them and I was going to get rid of some things. In the pile was a long slinky dress with red sequins sewed all over it. I pulled it out and told Mom I thought she could go to a Christmas party wearing that dress. She quickly took it and pulled it up over her cloths and then put a hat on her head. "Wow, I said, it fits everything EXCEPT at the top!" She then pulled even more things out and STUFFED the front of the dress full! We were laughing so hard we could hardly stand up!
Momma didn't worry about how old she was, she just enjoyed life the best she knew how and gave not only me, but countless others many, many special memories!

"Momma,The Heart of Our Home"

It has been some time since I wrote about my Dad and my Grandma Price. Both very much loved and so very important in my life.
Now I want to tell you another story. This time about my momma.
I have wondered what exactly I would say when I told this story but, for some reason have put off writing it because -- Well, I don't really know for sure why I haven't done it.
It certainly isn't that there aren't many, many wonderful things to tell about Momma, there certainly are.
Perhaps, and I had not really thought of this before, but perhaps, it is partly because I still miss her so much.
She has been gone now for several years, but, to try and tell the world (or the dozen or so people that may or may not read this) just how special she was is not easy, because it makes me miss her even more.
I have always been a little on lazy side and if something is not easy for me then I may put it off forever if I think I can possibly get by with that.
Of course, it has not kept me from getting myself into trouble, time and again.
Apparently my mind sometimes plays games with me and tells me something is going to be easy at the beginning, but then, I find out much too late that it is much harder than I had anticipated!
Unfortunately, when you commit to do something (especially when you have told someone else you will do it) then it can be a problem that must be completed! I call it my (Open Mouth -- Insert Foot) complex!!!
So on with my story.
Momma was a wise wonderful lady that always gave her all to everyone.
She told me once,that sometimes, her all did not feel like enough.
By the time she became MY mother she had also served in the role of daughter, career woman, wife and mother to 4 older children and also a fifth, who was delivered only a few short moments before my birth and happens to be my twin brother. I was number 6 (if you don't include the little twins that were born too early to survive several years before our birth.)
Now think for a moment if you will. The challenges our earlier generations had to deal with. No heat without the effort of putting coal or wood into the pot belly stove, no faucets with hot and cold water, no indoor bathroom, no shower, and until "the twins came along" no automatic washer.
But, life became "so much easier" with the addition of a new set of twins and an automatic washing machine.
Let's see --- A nine year old, a 7 year old (who had heart trouble), a 5 year old, a baby that was 11 months old and now two newborns!
Heres how that wonderful new washing machine worked. If I remember how I was told -- First, you carried water and put it into the tub with shaved pieces of soap. Next, you put a load of laundry in and the miracle machine would agitate the wash load until it was finished (I don't know if it had a timer of any kind) at which time you had to lift each piece of clothing out and put it through a hand ringer (two rollers and a handle that you turned) until that piece of clothing fell through into a tub with clean water to be rinsed at which time you repeated the wringing process (twice, I think) and then the items were hung out to dry.
Of course, while you were doing this you had to clean house, make the meals, change diapers, weed the garden, wipe runny noses, and take care of the dogs, chickens and various other animals that also happened to be living with the family at the time.
As I told you before "Thank God for the fact that my Grandma was there to help her out!" I don't know if she would have made it through otherwise.
We moved several times during the years as I was growing up and though I don't really remember much of anything from my earliest years, I know that no matter where we lived She was the rock that held us all together.
Daddy struggled with depression and if it had not been for Mamma's love I do not believe he would have gotten through many of the hard times.
She was a wonderful cook, although she never thought she was and the house was always warm and welcoming.
We were a wild bunch and I just know it was not an easy life for her.
There was a time that she would eat uncooked oatmeal out of the box as a snack. She told me that she even ask our doctor if he could explain why she craved raw oatmeal and he told her he could not explain it, but perhaps her body had a deficiency and it was telling her she needed it.
Once she told me that even though things were hard she never wanted to leave us, but that she daydreamed sometimes that if she could "just go out and hide in the middle of the field, with her box of oatmeal and a bottle of water" she would be able to rest awhile and she would be alright.
She also said that she believed "Daddy never really understood how exausted she was all the time."
We started going to church the year I was 6 and I remember sitting beside her and holding her hand. I can still feel how warm and secure I felt when I held onto those precious hands.
When we moved into town when I was 8 she scrubbed and painted and put wallpaper on the walls to make the house look nice for us. Dad did a lot of cleaning the yard and fixing on the outside. They made a deal with the lady that owned the house that they would work to make it better and she gave them something off the cost of the rent.
The year I was fifteen she had to have surgery the same time my older brother Richard was having open heart surgery close to 200 miles away. She was so worried about him, but had to be in one hospital while he was in another close to 200 miles away. They both had serious complications, but, thank God for bringing them through that very tough summer.
She was a wonderful seamstress and although I don't have any idea how she found the time she not only mended our clothing, but she sometimes sewed wonderful things for us.
One thing that I was impressed with were the wonderful gowns she made for each of us girls.
Betty had a beautiful white taffeta (I think) dress, with a very full tea length skirt and low V neck.
Jeanie's gown was long and gorgeous. It was strapless, red with a white sheer overlay and a wide red satin cumber bun.
The year I was 16 I wanted a yellow dress I saw in the Sears catalog. She asked if I would like her to make it and when she had finished it,I thought it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen!(It was much prettier than the catalog version which another classmate wore to the dance!) That dress was yellow satin and had a strapless top under a white lace top and long lace sleeves (trimmed with the yellow satin). The skirt had two layers. One of yellow satin and the other of yellow chiffon.
I went to the prom that year (with the love of my life, the man I was to marry 2 years later) feeling like I was as beautiful as a princess.
I can see this is getting to be way to long and so I think I will stop for the moment and perhaps continue another day with "Momma, Part II"

I'm Singing the "Blaah's"

Hum----m, Thought it about time I posted another page, but don't really know anything interesting to talk about. Not too much excitement here at the moment but, I guess that is a good thing, since it means that, at least for the moment, none of the family seems to be in the middle of any major crisis! You know how bad news is--it usually gets to you even before it happens. As far as I'm concerned I would just as soon NEVER hear bad news again.
As far as good news goes. Guess the best news recently has been the birth of another child in our extended clan. A little boy named Seth,born to my great-nephew's lovely lady. Babies are always a blessig no matter how much trouble thay can eventually be! I have no doubt that this little guy will be cherished, as every child should be.
Other than that, let's see -- We got treated to supper out this evening. My sweet Wayne and his friend Jack have been helping a friend from church for the past several months. The friend had surgery last spring and has had many setbacks since then. So the guys have mowed, shoveled snow and taken care of other little things he needed. Finally, his health has improved considerably and he insisted on taking not only the guys, but also the wives also. Such a sweet couple, it is always nice to be appriciated.
Our Ohio weather has finally warmed a bit this past week. We have gone from lots and lots of snow to sunshine and warm temperatures (The rivers are a-risin') the past few days. It has been a long winter. Spring will be welcomed.
I have been trying to write some on my (almost) novel, recently. It's hard work for a not so brainy person! It dosn't feel like it will ever be finished, but, I am making some progress and have decided I am going to get it done before 2011 is over! One way or the other! That way I will be able to say that I actually did write a book. I may not be able to say that it is a good book-------
Anyway as you can see, my creative writing is not doing very well this evening, so I am just going to stop boring you and say good-bye for tonight.
Maybe another time I will have something more interesting to talk about. At least this gives me typing practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January is gone and we are another month closer to Spring.
Not close enough I'm afraid. But CLOSER is good enough for today.
Actually, I am not one that sits around wishing my life away. It is going too fast for me as it is, so I think I should try hard and find the good in EVERY day.
That is not to say, I would not enjoy WARM TROPICAL BREEZES AND GOLDEN SUNSHINE! Oh, my, but that sounds heavenly at the moment.
But,Feburary is here and so far has not dissapointed "OLD MAN WINTER!"
Our northern Ohio home is buried along with millions of others across the country with what appears to be "The Storm of 2011".
The past two days we have been BLESSED with snow, ice, wind and snow again.
Today it has been only snow and more snow.
I must say, although, MOST are not "happy campers" right now. it is very BEAUTIFUL.
Yes, my friend, that is what I said. BEAUTIFUL. A virtual WINTER WONDERLAND.
Our home is directly across the street from Riverside cementary. Which has been part of this community for well over 100 years. It is in many ways a park setting, well groomed with large maples, oaks, sweetgum, and evergreens of numerous kinds. Each season brings it's own kind of beauty.
In fall our local Junior High school children have collected leaves from this very spot, for, what has become a local tradition.
I watch each September and October as cars and bicycles slowly circle the grounds. Stopping every few minutes to reach for (some standing on Dad's vehicle, some jumping or using sticks) "the very best or biggest" leaves to be glued into albums that are due back at school in mid-November. Somewhere in this house, I'm sure, there are still two red or green, or perhaps blue folders, from my 40 something year old children's, jr. high years.
Spring brings new grass and soft green moss that grows on the sides of the old buildings or cementary markers. There are tiny white and blue flowers everywhere and mayapple and dutchmans britches that grow along the wooded edge. Sometimes the tiny flowers completely cover the ground.
Directly behind the cementary runs the Auglaize River that the cementary is named for.
As you now probably have figured out, "I LOVE MY VIEW ON THE WORLD!"
I decided many years ago that it is so much better than looking at more houses.
Some seem to think living across from where the "dead" rest is a negative. I don't agree. Although we have now lived here for almost 40 years and we now have friends and even family members buried there, I choose to draw comfort that there is a beautiful garden setting where loved ones can walk amoung the tree's and flowers and remember those that are no longer with us.
When I go further in my thoughts and think about how much MORE BEAUTIFUL GOD'S HEAVEN will be, I have no reason to feel sad or downcast.
Most years I make the effort to take at least one extended walk to breath in the fresh cold air and just to enjoy the quiet peaceful feeling I get from being surronded by nothing but snow and more snow.
I think today is a good day for a walk. Would you like to go along?