Memories Of Mom

It has been ten years today since we lost Mom.

She had congestive heart failure and died of a heart attack. She was probably terrified not knowing what was happening to her and not having any of us there with her at the time. She was 82 years old. She was one of nine children and the last of her siblings to go.
Mom was twenty-four years old when she married and raised four of us kids.
She only had a few years of schooling as in those days you helped out at home if needed. She could not read but could pick out words from the newspaper. She had beautiful handwriting as she would copy the letters even though she didn't always know what they said.
Mom lived a simple, no frills life. She never knew much about the world around her. She didn't like talking on the phone and if you were far away, she thought she couldn't hear you very well.
She had no concept of distance. Our family didn't have a car and didn't travel when we were young. When us kids were older and leaving home, they did have the opportunity to travel some through us or friends.
Cooking was not Mom's best attribute, but every Sunday, we would have a big meal. It would be roast beef or chicken with potatoes, gravy, vegetable, a simple salad and probably pie. She did the best she could, I'm sure and none of us ever starved.
Mom loved to have fun. She was quick to laugh and giggle and loved to tease and be teased. She enjoyed having attention and people around her. I remember her always looking out our front window, just watching people and what was going on.
Mom would never leave the house without lipstick and her hair fixed, even to go to the corner store up our road.
When we were older, Mom would want to go out for a beer and dancing, but Dad didn't want to go so she eventually just went without him. She could be found many a Saturday night at the local pub having a good time.
Mom really enjoyed music. When we were younger she had a squeeze box and would play that thing for hours, just making up tunes as she played. The music was in her bones and the songs in her head.
Mom absolutely adored babies and would always gravitate toward them as if they were magnets. Mom had other passions as well. She would quite often play solitaire or do jigsaw puzzles, but her biggest one was bingo. I think at one point, before they moved away from the coast, she would go to bingo almost every night of the week. After they moved to the interior and she got older, she didn't go as often.
Mom was very mobile for her age as well. She walked a lot, probably because they didn't drive. Then when she was in her seventies, she slipped on some sand on a curb and broke her hip. She never walked again after that without a walker. She was afraid of falling again. Mom went into the care home and never left there. We thought she wouldn't be happy there, but she liked being waited on and came to expect it, until the staff got her doing some things for herself.
In her later years Mom loved watching game shows on TV (she had her favorites), looking at photos, going on outings and watching the world go by out her window. Rest in Peace, Mom. We love you.