My Miracle Worker Mom

I saw this Internet meme called "my mom was a miracle worker" and was going to share it but I was inspired to write about my mom instead. In my humble opinion, she was everything this meme stated and more.

 

A miracle worker and a super mom.

 

Yes, that was my mom. The mom I saw and knew as a child. Many things my younger siblings may not remember because dad eventually retired from the military and his civilian life afforded more for them as the older kids moved out.

 

It started out with me, the oldest, to eventually eight kids at home. Living on a Navy allotment check, while many times our dad was stationed away from home, using what little money she had to feed and clothed all of us. She didn't have a driver's license and relied on neighbors or walking to neighborhood stores.

 

She used all of us to chip in and help so she had a near spotless house, making us clean up our messes, which taught us discipline and respect, because we had to take care of what little we had.

She didn't want us to ever feel we were deprived or unloved in any way because children elsewhere were more deprived and unloved and we should never forget that. Her words taught us to appreciate and to be humble.

 

She loved us even when we were more mad at ourselves but wanted to take it out on her. Pushing her to many breaking points with our whiny demands knowing she couldn't do more than she did but being a brat was more important than being reasonable. 

We learned that misbehaving brought on disciplinary actions. She couldn't always say, wait until your father gets home. Especially if he was shipped out somewhere like Italy and we had to wait to go over there, or Vietnam where we couldn't go at all.

 

She was constantly solving all our problems and minor battles, with siblings or our friends. She was either wiping all our noses, checking for fever, or bandaging our cuts and bruises; sometimes rushing us to the hospital by using a neighbor, if dad wasn't home.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her in the summer of 1965 because I took it. We were living in Virginia Beach at the time but shortly afterwards we moved to San Diego where dad was shipped immediately to Vietnam for his first tour of duty there. Not bad for having eight children at the time of the photo ... ranging from seventeen (me) to the twins who were five years old.

Yes, my mom was one hell of a mother. I can only hope I am at least half the woman she was. I know I had it much easier so it's really no comparison. I'm sure I didn't have to work miracles as she did. 
  

1927-1997