I Learned Many Things From My Mother

Today is my mother’s birthday.  She passed away many years ago.  Had she lived, she would have been 111 today.    I learned many things from my mother, I believe, even though she and I had very different lives in very different times.

I Learned From My Mother From The Things She Loved

Being Outside

She loved being outside in her yard, planting and caring for flowers and plants.  So do I.  Just stepping outside the door lifts my mood and, I believe, she felt that way, too.

Interacting With Children

She loved young children. My memory of her when I was a child was that she liked being around us, talking to us, playing with us. I, too, have found much joy in interacting with my own children, and also with many others through teaching and the sharing of my books.   I love to discover children’s interests and experience their curiosity and thinking, and their joy in learning.

Reading And Poetry

Reading was a favorite pastime of hers and she loved poetry.  I, too, share that.  She had an interest in writing children’s books, and I remember her once sending away for a booklet on how to write children’s stories.  I would have loved to have been able to share my books with her.

Motivation and Inspiration

She liked to find motivational and inspirational sayings, and pass them on to us.  I like that, too.  Just ask my sons, as they wake up many mornings to some picture or saying on message.  I think that topic could be its own blog post!

Ancestry

She was interested in ancestry, and talked to us about her parents and grandparents.  Now, with Ancestry.com, I am capable of sharing the information she collected with others in the family, and discovering new information.  Mom would have loved seeing how that works, I think.

Being Her Children’s Teacher

Long before it was popular to say that parents are their children’s first teachers, she knew it.  In my understanding of her, she saw school as a part of our education, with our complete education being her responsibility.  Teachers were sometimes surprised that we already knew how to do things when we got to school, as Mama had taught us in our normal interactions of the day.   She also felt that behavior, moral values, and religion were her and our father’s responsibility, and not the school’s. I wish more parents now had the conception of school as a partner with the parents to help educate their children, not an adversary, or a replacement.

I learned many things from my mother.  For this, I am grateful.  My life was enriched by her.

Happy Birthday, Mama.