My Mom and Dad

My Mom and Dad... what can I say. They weren't perfect, but then neither am I as a parent. They weren't beautiful by today's standards. They weren't rich with money. And yet, I never did without the things I needed.

They are both in Heaven now with Jesus and loving every minute of it, I'm sure.

Dad was a quiet sort of guy. He had his favorite chair with all he needed on a table beside him. He smoked cigarettes for a while, then it got to his lungs and he had to have surgery. After that, he smoked a pipe, read the newspaper, and tormented us kids when he was feeling particularly "frisky". By tormented, I don't mean he was abusive. He just teased us.

There was one song I played that he liked very much: The Spinning Wheel. Why? Heaven knows! His name for it was: Galloping Goosey. You would have to hear it to understand why.

Mom... what a saint!! She had lots of patience! I remember how us kid's, four in all, would push her to the limits. When she got angry, you wanted to back off and hide, but she always loved us. She made sure we went to the church service's. (She was a preacher's kid) If dad didn't feel like taking us to church, then we would ride the bus or call someone to come and get us. Dad didn't get saved until after us kid's were out on our own and that's okay. He's saved and that's the important part.

Mom saw to it we kid's had what we needed. There wasn't much abundance, but we were taken care of.

Mom helped plenty of people in her day. She helped at Christmas time for those who didn't have much. Getting agencies to give baskets of food, clothing, toys... and we would get something, also.

As their lives were extended, Mom and Dad worked through their church. They had a food bank and clothing, all of which was donated; they made quilts out of polyester, cotton, and denim materials. Some went all the way to foreign country's with missionaries. Dad had an old treadle sewing machine set up in the middle of their living room with rolls of material all over the place. He would cut the clothing in strips a certain width, sew the ends together and make big rolls out of them. Then when he started to make a quilt top, he would cut and sew the strips in the size he wanted. Never saw anything like it ever!! Once the "top" was made, he would take it to Mom, at the church, and she would put them together and stitch them. I still have some of them today.

No they weren't the "perfect" parent's, but I love them and miss them! They were always there when I needed them, and sometimes when I didn't. Daddy passed away before Mom. Mom had a stroke and spent about 3 years in a nursing home before she died. I was the designated "driver", so to speak. I would not take anything in the world for the time I was allowed to care for her. She might have been a pain a few times, but then so was I when I was growing up.

It's hard to end a story about two lives that were together for 50 years. I could tell so much more... story's, memory's that still remain in my heart. But I have to end somewhere...

I know! Galloping Goosey THAT'S how I'll end!