Mama's Birthday

 

February 11, 1919 - December 6, 2012

              When this picture of my mother was taken, she was around 25-years old.  At that moment, she was already a survivor.  Yet, you can see in her face that she was happy – with most of her life still ahead of her.  Going through hard times can often cause us to appreciate better times much more.

             Mama was born 103 years ago in 1919, shortly after WWI, and in the middle of the Spanish flu pandemic (its dates: Feb 1918-April 1920).  She was a pre-teen in a poor farming family during the Great Depression, and a newlywed when WWII began. 

We think our times are rough now, but I tend to think the early to mid-1940s must have been an especially difficult and frightening time in which to live.

             As a child, Mama grew up in what we might call poverty, but she didn’t even realize she was poor because everyone she knew lived in the same condition.  Her family lived on a farm and so they did have food to eat.  She was the youngest of five children and always wore hand-me-down clothes.  Her parents were hard-working people, struggling to make ends meet, but still cared for their children and took them to church.

Holding her prized possession - a doll from her sister

            Mama was the epitome of the Proverbs 31 virtuous wife – and I might add, Mother.  She was totally trustworthy and devoted to her family.  She was the hardest working woman I’ve ever known – and she never complained about it.  She was a wonderful cook, seamstress, gardener, and flower arranger.  That woman could stick a twig into her special soil and it would root into a beautiful plant.  I don’t know how she did it!

            Oh, how Mama loved her children!  Me, my younger sister Ava and much younger brother Clark were all nurtured with love and tenderness.  Mama sewed almost all of our clothes, and attempted to get us to eat healthy (I was a very picky eater – sorry Mama!).  She also took us to church each Sunday, even before Daddy was saved (when I was nine years old).  She leaves behind a wonderful legacy that continues through our generations.  And I am happy to know that I will see her again (:

            I thank God for every remembrance of my dear Mother, and wholeheartedly say, “Her children rise up and call her blessed…many daughters have done well, but you excel them all…a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised,” Proverbs 31:28-30.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Mama!!!

Her favorite color was always pink (: