55th Anniversary
Tribute to Mom
I’ll never know how she did it.
My mom, born and raised a city girl with dreams of seeing the world, sacrificed that dream to become a farmer’s wife. And then together they raised seven children.
While raising those children, she also …
- made three full meals per day (we’re talking eggs, bacon, and toast for every breakfast, and meat, potatoes, and veggies, etc for dinner {that’s the noon meal} and supper), plus pies, cookies, cakes, donuts, etc, so there were always snacks for in-between meals and for when neighbors randomly dropped in for coffee (which happened at least once a day, if not more.)
- she kept house
- baked several loaves of bread from scratch a few days a week. A family of nine eats a lot of bread!
- sewed clothes
- crocheted baby blankets and other items
- washed clothes for nine people and often hung them on the line to dry
- chauffeured children to school and church activities
- maintained an acre-sized garden
- drove tractor, milked and fed cows, baled hay
- kept the farm books
- went to her children’s and grandchildren’s (21 of them!) concerts and football games and parent-teacher conferences and church events
- sang in the church choir
- rarely missed a church service
- served in many capacites at church
- for those of you familiar with dairy farming, you know there’s no such thing as a vacation. The cows need to be milked twice a day for 365 days a year
- and I know there’s so much I’ve missed!
Eventually, she did get to travel to France to visit her sister and brother-in-law, and she and Dad took a few driving trips around the US.
But throughout it all, she never complained, and was content and happy with the life God had blessed her with. That shone through to all who met her. And when she finally went to be with Jesus in January of 2016, her quiet testimony filled nearly every church pew with friends, relatives, and neighbors who had witnessed God’s light in her.
I’m not half the mom–half the person–she was, but I am a work in progress.
Love you, Mom!
Comments 4
I loved the tribute to your mom. Happy Mother’s Day to you too!
Thank you, Michelle! Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Lovely tribute to a wonderful woman. I know how you feel. Still, after all these years I can never be the mom mine was. I know it’s not necessarily right, but Mother’s Day ended for me the day she left this earth.
She must have been a wonderful woman, Nicole. 🙂
While I miss my mom, I’m so happy that she’s singing in that heavenly choir and I know someday I’ll be singing alongside her again!