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Like My Mother...

I never wanted to be like my mother. Growing up, I thought she was strict, old fashioned, regimented, too old to really know what was going on in my life and certainly too old to know what was going on in the world. The very last thing I wanted to be was --- like my mother.

Today, as I started my day, I realized as I went about my routine I am exactly "like my mother."

Each day, first thing I do is have a cup of coffee and then breakfast. I'm not a big breakfast person and neither was she. Next, I make my bed, straighten each room in the house, get dressed and decide what I'll do with my time that day.

Since I don't work anymore I have the freedom to choose. It's a lovely freedom and one I never take for granted.

My mother did those exact same things every day of her life. Now, I do them too. In order. Very structured. Very orderly.

Most days, R and I have coffee and watch Good Morning America. Mother always checked out the news.

I can't sit and relax until I have all those little chores done. Mother couldn't either. Actually I rarely sit and relax and neither did she. If I am sitting I either fold clothes, makes lists of the things I need to do, or work on the computer. My mother usually mended. Her hands were always busy. Either in biscuit dough or pie crust, or washing dishes.

My mother was a hard worker, physically. I am too. (I don't mean digging ditches here!)

My mother and I were different in one area. She loved to garden and I do not. That is a big "DO NOT." She would rather work in the yard, cleaning, picking up sticks, planting flowers, carrying rail road ties one year with my step father to make a border for her flower bed, than to do anything else on earth. She loved to plant and harvest a vegetable garden. Always lots of plants, lots of weeding, lots of love. I've never even planted a tomato.

My mother loved the outdoors and I do too. She loved to WORK outdoors. I do not. To me the outdoors is meant for enjoyment, lazing around in a chaise lounge, or sitting on the front porch watching life saunter by on my country road, or reading the newspaper. Or sitting on the back deck in the evening watching the colorful array of birds and wild life skitter past. Often we see deer leaping across the fields.

Spring and summer are for sitting under a tree with a good book and a glass of sweet tea with a lemon slice, my feet propped either on my husband's lap or on the chair he has vacated.

All of her 87 years on this earth, my mother was devoted to her family.
My wish is that I can be at least a fraction of the good mother she was.

I'm sitting here remembering all the good things. How much fun we had together, talking laughing loving.

I'm hoping my children will remember some good things about me and who knows, maybe they'll turn out to be a little bit like me.

I imagine they will be.

But don't tell them I said that.

Any thoughts on this special topic?

Blessings to you and yours as we head for spring.

Comments

  1. I loved this recounting of the similaries between you and your mom. I wish I was more like mine--she never worries about much and just accepts and endures hard times in her life. I think of her when my life overwhelms and I think if she can do it, I can.

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  2. I'm very similar to my Mom and after writing my post about my Dad, I realize how much like him I am also! Mom has a real work ethic, even in her 80's...she loved to cook, but that has slowed down. She still loves to "play" outdoors and keep her yard looking top notch. Thankfully, my Sister is there to help her with that. Many times I find myself saying "Holy Cow, I'm my Mother!"...but it also makes me thankful for her and all the sacrifices that she made for us 6 kids. Thanks for writing such a nice post about your Mom, but also about your life!

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  3. This is a nice tribute to your mother. I'm like my mother too. Everyday I do some of the same things. She has been gone for thirteen years and I miss her more everyday. It's nice to know there's a little something to look at each day. Thank you for writing this. I'm your latest follower and I love your blog.

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  4. I am like my mother in that she was a good cook and so am I, she loved to read and so do I, she had a good sense of humor, as do I, she hated confrontation - as do I. I differ from her in that she didn't have a social life and hated having people over. My husband and I go out frequently AND we invite people for dinner and throw parties.

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  5. Acorns don't fall far from the tree!

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  6. How precious each of your comments are to me. I wasn't sure about this post. I didn't want to come across as superficial but real.
    My mom had a sense of humor and I got that as well.
    She was a depression kid who knew the value of a dollar and once said to me when she looked around her home and furnishing. We wanted her to redecorate and she was appalled, saying, "Why I have more now than I ever thought I'd have. Me and daddy had an orange crate for an end table when we first got married around 1930."
    She used to say too when we fussed at her for working - "DOn't bury me til I'm dead."
    God bless each of you for your thoughts. B

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  7. I'll never quite be as my Mom was -- she was more patient than I am and it took me awhile to inherit her childraising skills. She was such a hopeful person. When I think of her hard life, I can't believe she was so upbeat. The thought of giving up would never have entered her mind.

    One way we are different is that I'm always studying something new, always wanting something else to do.I can't set still and always have to be working at something.

    Mom did the same kind of things day in and day out. She didn't look for anything exotic or rich. What she looked forward to was a few minutes to sit and do absolutely nothing. That didn't happen very often.

    I like seeing your Mom through your eyes.

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  8. I love your post about your mom. Do you also look like her? I think we all have traits of our parents. It is nice, because when they are gone, they are not really gone...because a little (or a lot) of them continues on in us, their children.

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  9. I don't think I look like my mom. I may as I grow even older. I've stayed thin as she was. Later in life she gained a bit from sitting in a wheel chair but never really heavy. I got her energy gene.
    We all five got our daddy's brown eyes, mother had blue. I miss her still. I miss talking to her on the phone. WE used to talk every day. I miss her love and devotion to me. I miss the one person who thought I was perfect.

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  10. What a lovely and loving tribute to your mom. Since you're so much like her, I expect your own children will have similar feelings about you. Thank you for sharing this.

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