Mother's Day

This blog is in memory of my mom.

Ruth Marie was born August 19, 1929 and passed April 28, 2010. She grew up in the depression and had one brother that, to my grandmother's despair, she squabbled with endlessly. Then they hit their teens and realized they could get away with alot more if they covered each other's back. From that point on, they were inseparable.

They grew up poor. My grandparents could only afford one pair of roller skates so they split them. Each one had one roller skate. I remember my grandmother telling me the only shoes they could afford for my uncle was a pair of girl's shoes so they threw the box away so he wouldn't realize he was wearing sissy shoes:)

My mom was extremely tenacious, translate: stubborn. She only had one spanking in her life and even then refused to do what she'd been told.

Though she didn't grow up with money she grew up in a wonderful family and was wealthy in all the matters that count.

She had two goals in life. One was to have four children and the other was to become a nurse. She had me and was unable to have any more for many years then my three sibs came rapidly one after another. At fifty-one with three school age children at home she went back to school to become a nurse. For many years she worked on the psychiatric floor at St. Johns in Springfield, IL. I teased her endlessly, telling her it was a perfect fit.

For her sixty-seventh birthday, she went skydiving for the first time.

She had severe diabetes most of her adult life and Alzheimer's at the end of it. Life was not always easy but she bore it with grace and dignity and maintained a sense of humor.

I have no doubts that when her spirit passed into the next cycle of life her parents, my dad and Neon her favorite cat were waiting.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

And to all the great moms out there...Have a wonderful day.