Remembering Mom

 

Today nine grown adults and their spouses stop to remember our mom who went to be with Jesus, just one year ago. I'm one of the spouses . . . the youngest . . . who observed her in many ways that maybe her own did not.

We had an interesting relationship . . . she and I . . . one in which she tried hard to be sure I was the good Mennonite girl for her son in the only way she knew how. I knew she meant well, but I did not believe it so much until later in life. I realized that she could only talk about what she had knowledge of, which was life experience and hard work. I had the joy of writing down some of her stories, and how she appreciated and loved that.

One of the things I picked up from her was a love for beautiful, clean linens. I would venture to say that no matter how poor they had been in Paraguay, she would have been one to open up those flour sack seams, wash them, bleach them in the sun and sew them into tea towels, even late into the night. She came to Canada and loved how one could buy beautiful, soft, flowered bath towels and sheet sets. Hers were replaced as often as she could possibly afford and she loved to walk me past her linen closet and show me how everything was beautifully ironed, folded and stacked.

Tea towels and dishcloths were a special project of hers. She had no food safe certificate, but I soon learned from her that these things had to be bleached on a regular basis. Dishcloths that were not white and clean smelling, were a sign of a sloppy or lazy homemaker and she would not be afraid to let that be known.

There came a day when, with so many children and grandchildren, she and dad had to stop buying gifts, but one gift that was sure to come into our hands at many a gathering was a little towel and dishcloth, rolled up and tied with a ribbon. There were so many, I ended up collecting them in a laundry basket, never even opening them all, especially when they were to be passed along to the grands or great-grandchildren. I remember now because, recently, I unrolled a couple and they both had a five dollar bill tucked inside, obviously meant for some great-grandchildren. That is what she did.

Later on, today, we are cooking a meal that mom would have made for us and we are getting together to remember her. Chicken, meatballs, potato salad, Zwieback and cold fruit soup are on the menu.

And for memories' sake, I stopped in at one of her favorite stores.

There will be one rolled up little kitchen hand-towel for each daughter and daughter-in-law again tonight.