My Mother
When I look back at the years, I realize now how short life on this earth truly is for each of us. My mother made the most of this time dedicating her life to the well being of others.
I was born with clubfoot. My mother would carry me down to the bus stop dragging my sister behind and then up the hills of downtown Tacoma to the specialist tasked with straightening my legs and feet. This took years in casts and braces but it enabled me to live a full and productive life playing sports and eventually serving in the Air Force.
As a little boy, my mother would challenge me with games. From cards, to Scrabble, to Boggle, all of these games were directed at expanding my vocabulary, learning math and developing a strategy for winning. By the time I entered school, I was well on my way to a successful education.
My summers were filled with playing in the park across the street, picking blackberries in the field by the Southend Swimming Pool, and canning everything from cherries off the trees in the backyard to pickling cukes from Duris’s farm in the Valley. I remember stuffing the jars with dill, garlic, chili peppers and spices while mom made the brine. And, let’s not forget all the freezer jams that made the winter toast and English muffins so delicious.
Playing sports kept my mom busy with laundry. All those cold days when I came home covered in mud from head to toe, I would hear her say, “Go around back and take off those muddy clothes, you’re not coming in this house like that”. She would spend hours with bleach getting my white football practice uniform clean just to have me come home again covered in mud and grass stains.
Camping was always a large part of our family life. Every weekend from April to October was spent camping at state parks and eventually at a camping club my parents joined. As mom would prepare breakfast, I would find a tree to climb. When breakfast was ready she would stand outside and look up in the trees to yell at me to come down to eat. As a child, my mom loved to fish at Fox Lake in Minnesota where she grew up. This continued on with me bringing a stringer full of rainbow trout back from the local lake to clean and grill for dinner.
After leaving for college, coming home for the holidays meant arriving to the smell of the fireplace burning as I walked up to the front of the house. When I opened the door, the smell of all my favorite dishes and a table full of confections made by mom. Those first couple weeks back at school meant going to the gym to help loose the fifteen pounds I would put on over the holidays.
For the next 3 decades after college, mom would track my whereabouts around the globe making my younger brother show her on a map where I was located and making him help her read everything she could about the people and the culture of the country. She also was the caring mom who often sent her guardian angel to watch over me and bring me home safely to my family through conflict after conflict. I believe the day I retired from the Air Force was one of the happiest days of my mother’s life.
My mother could always find the good out of a bad situation. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she never gave up and told me it brought me home to spend her last 4 months together. Through surgery and rehab, we played cards and Yahtzee, went shopping for Christmas cards and visited places like Point Defiance. As we reminisced about the past, we made new memories and eventually she was able to spend time with all three sons together at her side playing one more practical joke at her expense getting us the dreaded finger shaken at us with that “You got me again smile”.
I cannot say enough about my mother. Her love, devotion, protection, and guidance was unending. No one could ask for a better mother. I miss her dearly but know she is in a better place still watching over all of us from on high. Take care momma, I love you and I’ll see you soon.
