MOTHER'S DAY 2015

This is my Mother.

She was so many things......to all of us.

She loved and adored cats. 

I don't think she ever lived without a cat and therefore, neither have we.

She received her BS degree in Nursing from White Cross Hospital in 

Columbus, Ohio.

She was a charge nurse

when she met my Daddy,

who was a medical student

at Ohio State University.

They married in 1943.

This is mother standing in the side yard at my grandparents house in Ohio. 

The window right above her was the music room

which was like a formal living room.

This was in my grandmother's backyard.

This is mother (right) and her cousin Ruth (left).

I posted about Ruth's story previously.

Ruth was the daughter of my grandmother's brother, Joe and he was married to Tice.

Tice and Joe divorced and Ruth came to live with my grandmother.

Ruth and mother were about one year apart, but in the same grade in school.

Mother skipped a year in elementary school, and she graduated high school at 16. 

Mother often told stories of the dates she and Ruth went on.

I remember when she said they both went to a dance in their nightgowns!

The nightgowns were slinky Jean Harlow type gowns and 

they thought they looked like a million bucks! 

Wonder what my grandmother thought of this?

This was when Registered Nurses looked like nurses!

Your cap reflected which school you 

graduated from and 

your entire uniform was white,

complete with white stockings! 

You were not allowed to be married while

in nursing school during those days. 

I know she loved living in Columbus! 

“When God Created Mothers"

When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said. "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?" She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said. "Six pairs of hands.... no way."

It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "it's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded.

One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say. 'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."

God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest tomorrow...."

I can't," said God, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure."

Can it think?"

Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.

There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."

What's it for?"

It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."

You are a genius, “said the angel.

Somberly, God said, "I didn't put it there.” 

~Erma Bombeck, "When God Created Mothers."