Memories of Mom

What the daughter does, the mother did.

(Jewish Proverb)

(My Mom and I, 1974.)

I looked in the mirror the other day and saw my Mom’s elbows. It made me pause. See, I look just like my Dad. But I saw that day that I have my Mom’s elbows. I’m so much like my Dad in both physical looks and giftings that what I have of Mom gets a little lost.  So many of the events and day to day things from my childhood have drifted to the dark parts of my memory bank. But every so often one of the memories creeps forward and makes itself present.  Here are just a few...


My Mom and I share a love of office supplies, specifically pens.  A few years back we walked into an office supply store together and as we walked through the door we both, without speaking, inhaled the smell of the store. We happened to notice that we did that, looked at each other and started laughing in astonishment. In that moment it became very clear to me where I got my love of office supplies and explained why I could, and have, spent hours browsing in office supply stores!

(Mom got her first Kitchen Aid Christmas 1983)

I love to bake. And I never thought much about it until one day the random memory came to me that my Mom, once upon a time, loved to bake! In fact, she spent one day a week in the summers baking all the needed baked goods for this Dude Ranch near where we lived. Along with this memory came a clear picture in my mind of her standing in the kitchen of this Dude Ranch working with their huge Kitchen Aid and baking all sorts of fantastic treats.

(Mom baking at Tumbling River Ranch Summer 1985)

My Mom taught me to read at a very young age. We share books and a voracious love for reading. She taught me so well that when I was four and my brother was two I taught him to read! She turned us into a family of readers.


One day when my hub and I were doing some deep spring cleaning I got the giggles. I was cleaning windowsills and was really into it. I was definitely putting some elbow grease into this project. I started giggling when I realized I most likely had the same expression on my face that my Mom does when she’s scrubbing and I looked up to see my hub looking at me and saying, “You look like your Mom right now.” She and I have the same intensity when deeply involved in a project.


As I age I have started to hit curbs when driving. So yeah beware. Anyway, guess who does this too? Yep. My Mom! My daughter frequently makes comments about my driving and the growing similarities to my Mom’s. There are certain driving habits that I told my daughter to never let me engage in however! Haha!


When I was in elementary my Mom and I got up early one morning and went to a friend’s to feed their St. Bernard named Bear. My Mom was wearing this long quilted coat, the style back then, and went out on the back deck to Bear. I stayed inside and watched through the sliding glass door. In the blink of an eye my Mom was screaming at Bear as he tried to make her his breakfast. Imagine a young girl staring out the window while her Mom is being attacked by a huge St. Bernard. He bit through her coat and got to her arm. At first he went for her neck as he pushed her face down on the deck but she somehow offered up her arm instead. I don’t really know. All I know is her screams, my screams, and Bear. I got my Dad on the phone and told him what happened and he raced over. The rest of the morning was spent trying to contain Bear, get a hold of his owners, and getting my Mom to an Urgent Care for stitches. That afternoon we participated in our annual Awana Olympics, my Mom was a trooper.


As I get older and my Mom gets older and we grow in our friendship I see things about her that I never saw when I was younger. For example...


My Mom has a wonderful way with older people. She has been a companion to many as they can’t get out of their homes or even beds any longer. She and a 90+ year old quilt together! She taught the lady when she mentioned a few years back that she had never learned!


She volunteers at an organization that does in home hospice care and I dropped by the other day and one of the Directors there couldn’t stop gushing about my Mom. I’m so proud of her and so proud to call her MY Mom.


She heads up the quilting ministry at our church. Each Christmas our church picks a nursing home to gift the residents with lap quilts. This is no small undertaking; it is literally a yearlong project!

My Mom may not know it or feel it or even hear it but God has been speaking grace over and in her life for 60 years now.  She's dragged some heavy baggage with her throughout life but as she ages she has learned to courageously put the baggage down and continue on her journey with a lighter load.  Philippians 1:6 says that the process God begins with each one of us he will complete and my Mom is a strong example to me of being brave enough and having the necessary endurance to allow God to put her through the processes. 


When I look in the mirror as the years pass, I hope that I see more of my Mother in me than just her elbows. :) 

(My Mom's 36th Birthday, February 4 1987.  I'm 36 right now!)