REMEMBERING MY MOTHER WITH MUCH LOVE
By OLIVENE GODFREY
My mother died five years ago this month at a youthful 92 years old. And, this column is for her.
My daddy once wrote that, "an ounce of mother love is worth a pound of clergy." And, mother was a woman of beauty, strength and courage. Since she enjoyed remarkably good health for most of her life and faced life's crises with such courage,
we may have often taken her for granted.
The daughter of a lawyer who switched professions to become a circuit-riding Methodist preacher, she was born in Texas.
And, she met daddy when her father pastored the church at Pelham, Tennessee. Daddy took one look at the pretty, young preacher's daughter and told her, "I'm going to marry you! And, he did as soon as possible. A year later, I was born in the Methodist parsonage at Pelham. Four years later in Chattanooga, Mother gave birth to identical twin daughters, Joan and Jeanette. Then after she had raised us, our kid sister, Dianne, was born.
Being the mother of four daughters, and the wife of a preacher,
it was a good thing she was an expert seamstress. Not only did she sew most of her own clothes, but we must have been among the best-dressed girls in town.
Often, mother would decide to make the twins and I new dresses on a Saturday. And Sunday morning the dresses, always feminine and dainty, would be ready to wear to church. She would browse around in department stores and closely examine expensive dresses. Then, she'd go home and make "copies" of the originals for herself and her daughters. A smart lady- my mother.
When we returned home from school, there was always mother and a snack waiting. (I remember eating those snacks while I listened to "Stella Dallas"on the radio in the afternoon.)
One of our favorite snacks was chocolate fudge and soda cracker
sandwiches- delicious!
Like most mothers she often sacrificed so we could have nice things and enjoy treats. But, very early in life, my sisters and I learned that while mother could be gentle and loving, she was also a very spirited person, to put it mildly. When her green eyes started snapping, we knew that temper was aroused, and we'd better shape up or get out of her sight.
I still remember that after the twins and I had been married a few years, we went somewhere with mother and daddy. We three sisters were in the back seat, chattering and laughing, making a lot of noise. But, on that day suddenly mother's hand was slapping our legs as she read us the riot act for being "so loud". We shaped up right quick. And then we all started laughing as we realized that even as married women, we still respected mother's temper.
Being a creative person, (our houses are filled with her exquisite crafts), Mother was a talented florist over the years.
Thank you, mother, for everything.
See you next time.
By OLIVENE GODFREY
My mother died five years ago this month at a youthful 92 years old. And, this column is for her.
My daddy once wrote that, "an ounce of mother love is worth a pound of clergy." And, mother was a woman of beauty, strength and courage. Since she enjoyed remarkably good health for most of her life and faced life's crises with such courage,
we may have often taken her for granted.
The daughter of a lawyer who switched professions to become a circuit-riding Methodist preacher, she was born in Texas.
And, she met daddy when her father pastored the church at Pelham, Tennessee. Daddy took one look at the pretty, young preacher's daughter and told her, "I'm going to marry you! And, he did as soon as possible. A year later, I was born in the Methodist parsonage at Pelham. Four years later in Chattanooga, Mother gave birth to identical twin daughters, Joan and Jeanette. Then after she had raised us, our kid sister, Dianne, was born.
Being the mother of four daughters, and the wife of a preacher,
it was a good thing she was an expert seamstress. Not only did she sew most of her own clothes, but we must have been among the best-dressed girls in town.
Often, mother would decide to make the twins and I new dresses on a Saturday. And Sunday morning the dresses, always feminine and dainty, would be ready to wear to church. She would browse around in department stores and closely examine expensive dresses. Then, she'd go home and make "copies" of the originals for herself and her daughters. A smart lady- my mother.
When we returned home from school, there was always mother and a snack waiting. (I remember eating those snacks while I listened to "Stella Dallas"on the radio in the afternoon.)
One of our favorite snacks was chocolate fudge and soda cracker
sandwiches- delicious!
Like most mothers she often sacrificed so we could have nice things and enjoy treats. But, very early in life, my sisters and I learned that while mother could be gentle and loving, she was also a very spirited person, to put it mildly. When her green eyes started snapping, we knew that temper was aroused, and we'd better shape up or get out of her sight.
I still remember that after the twins and I had been married a few years, we went somewhere with mother and daddy. We three sisters were in the back seat, chattering and laughing, making a lot of noise. But, on that day suddenly mother's hand was slapping our legs as she read us the riot act for being "so loud". We shaped up right quick. And then we all started laughing as we realized that even as married women, we still respected mother's temper.
Being a creative person, (our houses are filled with her exquisite crafts), Mother was a talented florist over the years.
Thank you, mother, for everything.
See you next time.
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