May 10, 2004

• Mother’s Day makes me feel so much.  Most anyone here knows I still miss my mom a lot.  She truly was a mom that anyone would have been blessed to have raising them.  All three of us, my sister, Janet, my brother, Donnie, and myself, wanted to show our mom the respect she deserved by not doing things she’d taught us were wrong.  She was always considerate of my feelings and very encouraging.  She lived a life that provided an example of good morals and was excellent at showing how to treat others.  As I lived out my life, I hoped to measure up to be about half as good as she was at following the ‘straight and narrow’ path to which she referred when quoting scripture.  She never acted like she felt above anyone, rather the contrary, she was humble and ‘just me’ as she often would say.  She always appreciated people who didn’t try and be someone they weren’t.  The ‘just me’ has been something I have adopted as a preference.  I get offended by and put out by those who attempt to be someone they aren’t.  Uppity was her word for this.  She also had a phrase, “they’re gettin’ above their raisin’s“   

  
  

  Laverne Brown was born in the hills of Kentucky, affectionately referred to as ‘the Promised Land’ rather frequently, even though she spent most of her adult life in Ohio.  She was the eldest of ten children, born to James and Jennie Brown on February 7th, 1923.  She learned very early on in her life that hard work was rewarded and necessary.  Due to this philosophy, she taught her own children, even though they had it much easier than she had, that laziness (or sorriness) was not tolerated.

  
  

  Now, every parent has ‘a thing’ the kids will joke about among themselves as being somewhat of a quirk or idiosyncrency and our mom wasn’t an exception, but, considering all we could tease about was how she said ‘lumnium ful’ instead of aluminum foil, we were doing pretty good I’d say.  Most of our jokes were about things she said, and still today, when I use one of her truisms or a phrase she might have coined or passed down from the generation preceding her will still get a smile or outright guffaw when repeated.

  
  

  To list a few;

  
  

  
  
  • “Cry (or sh** or whatever would actually produce some accumulation) in this hand and wish in the other one and see which one fills up first” [used to show people that wishing, doesn't do much to fill your hand nor make a difference in what happens]
    
  • “stick that lip out a little farther and I’ll cut donuts off it” [used when a child (or adult) might be pouting dramatically, lip protruding] *NOTE:not that I ever pouted dramatically to hear this one but…
    
  • “That fella prolly squats to pee” [used to make note a male seemed a bit effeminate] and last but not least, my all time fave…
    
  • “Like the little old lady who peed in the creek, every little bit helps.  [Used when you wish to let someone know their contribution, no matter the size, is a plus.]

  
  

  sigh… my mother, bless her heart… she was a gem.  I wish I’d had longer with her. Being the youngest, I feel a bit slighted in that I had only 40 years with her.  Then again, I suppose being last at home with her by several years, I had more one on one time with her than did my brother and sister.  All in all, I appreciate what I learned and all she gave me.  I’m thankful, eternally thankful, to have had this treasure as my own mommy.

  
  

  If you have a story, a ‘funny’ or any fond memory you’d like to list, feel free.  Trust me, I love reading them.  Have a great week.

  • 12:02 pm
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