Happy Mother's Day to EVERYONE

I am not a mother, but I've been told that I would have made a great one on more than one occasion. :) Jill's blog got me thinking a little more about Mother's Day this year. I admit the holiday makes me miss my dad's mom, Hazel, (better known as Hatie).

Hatie was the definition of a grandmother. She sewed for a living for most of her life, raised two boys & a girl. She farmed, belonged to the Eastern Star, loved to travel, had HORRIBLE allergies (thanks Hatie), & she could cook up a storm. She & my great grandmother made mouth watering biscuits & fried pies. Hatie could quilt, crochet, make curtains, make little girly dresses (for me!), frilly pillows, etc... You name it, she could make it. She made me a monkey that I took into the operating room when I had my tonsils taken out in the 2nd grade. She did the alterations on my wedding dress, she made my wedding album out of the scraps from my wedding dress, & she made things for craft fairs. This talent did not carry over to the grandchildren, unfortunately. ha! I'll never forget the day she gave me her very first wedding ring that my grandfather gave her. He, apparently, gave her several. ha! It is probably over 70 yrs old now & it's probably the most valuable thing I own. It's a size 5 or 5.5 & fits my wedding ring finger perfectly. During my divorce, I took my own rings off & wore hers simply because it was comforting. :)

Hatie came from a hard working, middle class family in Tullahoma. Her dad ran the local saw mill & her mother owned the very first beauty salon. (the only one between Nashville & Chattanooga for a while) Hatie said she worked hard for her mother in that salon, which was near Clayton's shoes & Fast Jacks for you locals. She once told me that people thought they had a lot of money but she said they worked really hard for what they had. She & her siblings knew the value of a dollar.

When I was born, my mother lived with her in laws. Hatie helped take great care of me. I cried a lot. I was a preemie & a very sick baby for the first 6 months of my life. Mom nearly died with me when she had me 12-2-66 & then a month later I nearly died. Hatie is the only one who would ever talk about it. She told me that she walked the halls of Vanderbilt for 3 weeks wondering if she was going to take me back to her house. When we were growing up, if we got sick or had snow days, we usually ended up with Hatie or my great grandparents who lived next door. I really miss her a lot. She gave us the traditions that we will remember for the rest of our lives. She had this huge, LONG table in her dining room that everyone could sit at for Easter, Thanksgiving, & Christmas dinners. I thought it was the biggest table in the world when I was little. She would also take photos of us in front of her Christmas tree every year before handing out gifts on Christmas eve. She could be a goof ball at times & made us laugh. She got on an exercise kick in her late 60's & bought a huge adult tricycle. She looked so funny riding that tricycle up & down the drive way. It had a basket on the back of it. ha! I have those pictures.

Hatie developed Alzheimer’s after my grandfather died in 2000. (She had been taking care of him for years.) She died in Jan '06. I could not bring myself to sit through her funeral. I later heard that my Tullahoma nephew who was 11 at the time cried his eyes out, so I know it was best that I had not gone. I did however make it up there before the funeral started. I put a photo that she took of us one Christmas in front of her Christmas tree in her hands with a note that said, "Thanks". It was fitting because I knew we were the light of her life.

My mother, Elaine, had a much different life, much sadder life... She grew up in Manchester living with her grandmother & younger sister. She later lived with her older sister, Aunt Mary, before marrying my dad right after high school. My mother's parents were definitely not "Ozzie & Harriet" or even "Ozzie & Sharon"...if you know what I mean... Grandpa Harris was an alcoholic & to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much about him, except that he didn't talk much, was skinny, & always tried to give us shiny coins. My mother's mom escaped him to live in Michigan (hence the fact that I have tons of Michigan relatives! ha!)

Long story short, with the screwed up childhood my mother had, it's a wonder she's a functioning adult today. I won't go into the fact that she's borderline diabetic, overweight, & depressed most of the time, but I do remember a happier mom. She made sure we had everything we ever wanted. I cannot gripe about either one of my parents depriving me of anything, seriously. We were not spoiled by no means but my sisters & I never wanted for anything & that alone made my mother happy. I think mom did ok with raising us knowing all this about her. We, all three, turned out GREAT!

Mom used to love poodles (we had several), she loved the stuff Hatie made, she loved dressing us up in the latest fashions, & she STILL loves Longaberger baskets. She's a collector & that's putting it mildly. ha!

We had a black miniature poodle named Francois. Mother allowed me to dress him up & push him in my doll buggy around the yard. (yes, there's pictures) Imagine three little girls yelling for their dog in their southern TN neighborhood, "Francois! Francois!" We had a Pierre & Jock too.

Mom also enjoyed the fact that we went to a church that had buses, called the "Joy bus". She would get us dressed up, have the bus pick us up at home, & then she'd drive behind and/or next to the bus all the way to church. I was slightly mortified to say the least. She could be a goober that's for sure. I'll never forget us nearly rolling backwards down Sonic hill in her volkswagen that dad very stupidly bought her knowing she couldn't drive a stick. I never screamed so loud in my life!

Mother isn't that goofy woman today but she is the type that would give you the shirt off her back & then some. For instance, she took a leave of abscence from work to take care of my Tullahoma nephew when he was born due to my sister's illness. I hope one day, Dylan, knows what all his grandmother did for him. Mother works in a nursing home. She's been there since 1989 & loves it. It's her life now. When she finally retires, I have a "secret plan" to take her, Aunt Mary, & Aunt Judy to Dresden, OH to the Longaberger plant. God help me when I do that because it will be like driving 3 Miss Daisy's. ha!

Mom is in her early 60's but acts much older. She & I have little in common. I guess I tend to take after my dad's side of the family with my interests, personality, & frame type. I look at my hands, arms, & feet & I see my dad's side of the family. I do have my mom's hair & eye color, though. There's a lot of Dutch on that side of the family.

Long story short..... I love my mom & miss my Hatie today.
To my San Antonio sister, I call you "Bree" as joke but you are truly one of the best mom's I know. Happy Mom's day, Deb!

I hope everyone's Mother's day is great. :)