I miss all the things my mother used to do for me. Even though she had to get up to a freezing house at five-thirty in winter to do it, she always had a hot breakfast on the table when we got up, usually hot biscuits, eggs, fresh milk, homemade jam or preserves, and either grits or oatmeal. Like most kids, I didn’t want it, but she insisted. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” After the whirlwind of getting the older kids on the bus, she’d wash, iron, clean, sew, and tend the garden. When she finished her own pleasant tasks, She’d do whatever extra things Daddy had lined up to help her pass the time, all between taking care of however many of the children might be babies or toddlers.
Laundry and ironing weren’t easy in the 1950s and 60s. Mother had a wringer washer and clothes line a lot of the time I was growing up. Daddy eventually replaced it with a barely functional used automatic washer after she had her fourth baby. It was a boon when it worked, a curse during its frequent breakdowns, leaving her to do diapers on a rub-board and wait for the neighbor repairman. Mr. J.T. had a real job and worked calls in when he could.
She boiled starch for our prissy ruffled, dresses, Daddy’s and my brother’s pants and shirts, sprinkled them with her coke bottle-capped sprinkler, then set herself to the task of ironing forty or fifty pieces of cotton clothing each week. One glorious Christmas, Grandma gave her a steam iron and changed her life forever.
By the time we got in from school, Mother had a big dinner underway: meat, either beans or peas, and another vegetable, potatoes, fried or mashed with gravy, and biscuits or cornbread. If there wasn’t dessert, Daddy complained. She couldn’t get by more than two nights without dessert of some type without trouble. Everything was homemade. I really miss all the wonderful things my mother did for me and didn’t appreciate at the time. Oh, she’s not dead. She’s alive and well living seven miles from me. She just won’t do these things anymore.
I don’t know why Grandmother quit doing all those things that she loved so much….
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I don’t know either. I guess she forgot how much fun she was having.
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What a wonderful mother. I imagined every moment you described. Made me smile.
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At ninety she still is.
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Happy Mother’s Day to you and your mom. It’s a shame mothers wear out. I think my mom was in a wheelchair when she was the age I am now. I’m going to get up from the computer and do some exercises.
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Better health care makes a huge difference. Good blood pressure control can add thirty years to your life.
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My mom lived to be 80 years old. I don’t want to live 30 years longer than that. I’m 75 now. Guess I’ll take it one day at a time. It’s easier that way.
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You’d probably outlive everyone you love.
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Those were back-breaking days but then your mother is a powerhouse.. and proves it by being 90 and still kicking… backsides…..lovely post Linda…hugsxxx
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She sure is a tough cookie.
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Makes me miss all I did for my kids (not near as much as your mom did) and makes me miss it.
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It does seem a little quiet, doesn’t it.
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Very much so.
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It was a labor of love for your Mom. God bless your Mom for all her selfless toils and tears.
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I thank God for Mother every day.
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I forgot, Happy Mother’s Day!!
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Thanks, you too.
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Our mothers had it so much harder than we had it thanks to new inventions!
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My dad always thought my mother ought to be better organized. He had no idea hat her days were like.
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Poor ladies back in those days! So glad we aren’t having to work that hard.
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I think I worked that hard combining home and job. I was a nurse. Some days I didn’t sit down till I had a glass of tea at bedtime.
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Yes, I would agree you worked that hard – being a nurse, they are on their feet 12 hours a day!
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It is a demanding job.
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Yes, it is! My daughter is a nurse.
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My husband is a retired nurse. I recruited three of my nieces into nursing.
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My grandson is going into nursing too.
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I am so glad. He must be a good guy.
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Oh, he is! He is the best! 🙂
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I am always so glad to hear someone choose nursing.
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Yes, they are very much needed.
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Absolutely wonderful!
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Thanks.
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You, too!
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