Recently, my brother was going through boxes of things in my parents' bedroom. Dad has been gone for almost 6 years, and it will be 28 years ago next month that we lost our dear mother. Anyhow, he found a box of my mother's photos. What a treat it was to have these passed to me! I saw pictures of her that I had never seen before, a time when she was in her 20s back in the 1950's.
Here is a picture of my mother with Mother's Day flowers that I sent her in 1980. I was in college at the time. Thirteen months later, she passed away. She was only 52 in this picture, two years older than I am now!
My mother was an amazing woman who survived many horrors in her life, things that I cannot imagine. However, she never let that stop her from going on in her life and being the best person she could be. She was a fantastic mother! She was strong, opinionated, loving, creative, and very social. She was also hilarious and one of my favorite memories is of her and me laughing hysterically at something we both found funny, just two days before she died.
On to the pictures:
It was so fascinating to see the young woman that she was. When I was at Wally World scanning these pictures, it took all I had to keep from bursting into tears. I don't think she ever realized just how beautiful she was! I love this picture of her in this beautiful dress with large dots. LOVE that dress!
She was quite the bathing beauty too! I was actually rather shocked to see her in a bikini, but wow, Mom was looking hot! I hope she isn't rolling over in her grave because I am posting these. Nah, she was the one who liked to run out to the front of the house in her bathing suits to kiss and hug guests goodbye just to give the neighbors something to talk about!
For a short time in her early 20s, my mother was married to a man (NOT my father!) who she thought was going to be a preacher. He turned out to be an abusive jerk who she divorced after he made threats to kill her. Back in the 50s, divorce was NOT common!
Anyhow, I think she had these pictures taken intending to send them to him while he was in the Army. At that time, she was living at a boarding house in Toledo for single women who were working or going to school. She had written on the backs of these pictures. Here is what they said.
"Writing to 'my man'."
"Thank you, I hope you liked the recital."
"I haven't heard from you in so long!" (Yep, I see divorce looming!)
"Time for tea."
"The housewife, relaxing." (Ugh, what ugly curtains here!)
"Just waiting - my baby's coming home"
"Do you like the perfume?" (Oh how I love this picture of her! Look at that tiny waist! I sure didn't inherit that from her.)
"Getting ready for work." (Because he didn't send her any money to pay the bills.)
"Bye now, see you later."
Mom had a lot of different jobs when she was in her 20s. She completed a degree in social work, but found that it really wasn't for her. She later went back to school to become a teacher. Here are some of the odd jobs she had along the way.
Mom was a camp counselor at Camp Friendly in Napoleon, Michigan. Here she is in front of one of the cabins. I think she OWNS these shorts!
Here she is at the camp playing a fortune teller, Madame Fifi, according to the back of the pic.
She put together this bulletin board. I think this may have been for Sunday school or maybe one of her very first classes.
I wonder if these are the kids she made the bulletin board for. They are so cute. Some of them remind me of the Little Rascals.
Here mom is ironing her apron for work. Can you imagine using those old irons? She was a waitress at a Kewpies. Not sure if this is that particular workplace, but she hated Kewpie's with a passion!
She had time for fun too. I love this picture of her in a rowboat. From the look on her face, I think that the photographer was someone that she was in love with. What do you think?
Here she is sitting on Santa's lap. Santa gives me the heebie jeebies in this pic though. He looks a bit like an evil clown. Although the caption on the pic says, "it sure is fun to sit on Santa's lap," she looks a little scared of him!
Gosh I sure do miss her! If you still have your mother, say a prayer of thanks that you still have her. Life never feels the same once she is gone. It was so hard for me at the time because I was only 22 and had a 6 month old baby. My youngest brother was still in high school. However, in the time she was on this earth, she was the best mother ever and taught me all the skills I needed to be successful in my life. She was loved by everyone who met her. I look forward to seeing her someday again in glory.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my grandmothers!
This is my Grandma S. Here she is at age 31 (in 1922) holding my father! She was a warm and loving grandmother who passed from this earth far too soon. We lost her when I was only 7. She was a schoolteacher and a wonderful woman! I still get people (now elderly)coming up to me telling me how much they loved her. They do the same when talking about my mother. I take after my Grandma S a lot.
Here is my Grandma R, with my Grandpa. They took my mother into their home when she was 13 years old. My bio grandmother died when my mom was 8 years old. She went to an orphanage at age 9 and lived a hellish life there until my Grandma and Grandpa R took her in. They later officially adopted her. They gave her a good life. Grandpa ran a Mobil gas station and Grandma was also a teacher. While we didn't see them very often, and although Grandma was not a typically warm grandma, I did love her.
I hope all of you have a terrific Mother's Day surrounded by your loved ones.
Oh, my sons did give me the robin's egg blue plates! Yay! You'll get to see them on Tablescape Thursday.
