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Mother's day and a bonus ...
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By WENDY MITCHELL
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There is a leather covered white photo album somewhere in my parents home. In it are photographs of times which predate my brothers and sister, and me.
My father standing behind the wheel of a John Deere tractor, the old kind with the long steering shaft and close front wheels.
As a child he was a super hero in the photograph, muscled and bare chested with the marks of a true farmer's tan.
Photos of Mom are in there too, with her hair in the latest style and twinkling eyes; her freckle filled smile would put Liz Taylor to shame.
As a baby Mom was even chosen as a winner in a contest to find a new Gerber baby, but Grandma decided against it. My sister recently found the award announcement and photo hidden behind a high school photo of Mom.
In their wedding photos, all black and white, her dress was a shimmer of a translucent material over a white hoop-skirt. She was a petit fairy princess in my eyes.
Every couple years, like this year, their anniversary falls on or close to Mother's Day.
Don't it forget, Dad; you got through the last 49.
Pudgy faced professional baby pictures chronical the growth of our family, first me, then Chuck, Kenny, then Cheryl. It was expensive to have a photographer come to your home, but in those days not everyone had a camera with a flash for a professional photo look.
Farm life was demanding and hard for the city girl, but she managed house and farm, feast and drought side by side with Dad.
Love get's you through 50 years of snoring.
One of my favorite photos is of an aerial photo of the old farm; a very distinct circle is dug into the pasture near the barn. Mom had tried to help Dad, but got the brake locked on one side of the tractor, circling until Dad could get it stopped for her.
Teamwork makes a marriage last 50 years.
About the time they moved off the farm, I entered kindergarten. They moved the week I was hospitalized to have my tonsils out.
Mom at my bedside is what I remember of that ordeal. She read "Perky little puppy" to me until it was memorized. Only years later did she tell me I had almost died from dehydration.
School photographs began to be added as we entered kindergarten, usually the group photo which cost a dollar of their hard earned money. Lunch was 50 cents back then. A photo was a luxury.
My siblings are making plans for a surprise party to celebrate my parents 50th Anniversary; we will all be there in one form or another, Ken passed in 1994; it took a toll on all of us.
Mom is pretty upset believing I will not be able to make it for the party she is only guessing is in the works.
(Shhhh, don't tell her Rooster and I are on the way already.)
After all, who would dare miss 50 years of what being a mother and family is about. The fun, tears, boo-boos and fears, runny noses and planting roses, learning to drive and making life thrive, kittens born in the laundry and more guppies than any tank can hold.
Mom and Dad, family and home make it worth the gas prices and Rooster crowing about traffic to reunite with the Smith/Hand clan once again.
Gotcha, Mom.
Happy Mother's Day (and anniversary.) |
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Reader Comments
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Mason Countian wrote on May 15, 2008 8:55 PM: " Love and family make warm and wonderful memories! "
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