Saturday, January 25, 2020

A Backward Glance at my Mother

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

One of the tasks I set for myself in the new year was to clear out my email (the goal being to get it down to zero, still not accomplished). Toward the bottom of the list of mail marked new were letters I had saved from all the way back in 2011 written to me by my mother. Of course, most of her letters were read and discarded, but I must have left these in the new file thinking I would get back to them sometime to respond or jot down the titles recommended. Prior to deleting them, I copied them to a small Word file. It was like finding a time capsule:

Tue. March 29, 2011

Dear Wendy:

I was glad to hear there was a possibility of finding the tortellini at Aldi.  I'll have to look.

I'm sorry to hear that Sean and Trevor are sick.  Your statement about Trevor throwing up after having eaten strawberries made me think of when Mark threw up, in Webster Groves, after eating spaghetti (and poor Stella - our babysitter - had to clean it up.)

It amazes me to think of Trevor having his own blog!  He's a bright boy -- much brighter than me -- and I don't doubt he can handle it.

I had to chuckle about John and his medical advice because, yes, that is just like Dad.  Anything I say, he has a diagnosis and a remedy for.

We are leaving for Peoria right after Dad's bowling on Saturday, April 23rd.  That is as much as I'm sure of right now.  I'm not sure when David and Miriam are leaving Peoria or when they actually need us to be there.  I'm thinking we would probably be going through Indianapolis on Easter Sunday but don't know.  We can tell you more later next month and also, we would call you on the phone when we get close so that you can let us know if it's not a good time.  We could always stop in on the way back from Peoria instead, if that's better.

Love you, Wendy!

Mom

Wed, April 6, 2011

Dear Wendy:

Just read your blog!  I just yesterday finished reading "Healing Sands" (in a day and a half, couldn't stop reading it.)  I, too, did not know these books are a series.  I started with "Healing Waters," which was good.  This one was even better.  Not sure I'll want to go to #1 at this point.  It's funny, but the last time we went to our favorite bookstore in Lake Park, Georgia, I saw a number of books that seemed to be written for young/teen girls.  I was tempted to buy some as gifts for Arianna, Kari and Paige but wasn't familiar with the author.  The author was Nance Rue, who I now learn writes Christian books.  Her co-author in these "Healing . . . " books, Stephen Arterburn, is the founder of "Women of Faith" conferences.  I'm going to check the library for some of these "youth" books.

I also read "The Cradle" by Patrick Somerville and "World of Pies" by Karen Stolz.  On the lighter side I am into some "Murder" books.  These are easy reading, down home kind of books . . . they just all contain a murder, which the main character solves.  There is a whole slew of these books, with the first one being "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder."  From there it moves on to "Strawberry Shortcake Murder," "Blueberry Muffin Murder," "Lemon Meringue Pie Murder," and on and on.  The neat thing is that every book is full of wonderful recipes.  "Sugar Cookie Murder" has about 50 recipes.  If you should start to read these it's best to start with #1--"Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder," because many of the characters are in all of the books.  If you want to view the author's (Joanne Fluke) website you can go to "murdershebaked.com".

Well that's my story for now.  This week it's going to be mostly Luke 19 because I have the Sunday School lesson this week.

Talk to you later.  I love you, Wendy.  Thanks for listening to me.

Mom

Tue. Aug 2, 2011

Dear Wendy:

The anniversary card you sent arrived--I mean the monkey one this time--I laughed and laughed.  It is so cute.  I think I like sock monkeys best, anyway, and this picture was darling.  Thanks to both you and John for the generous money gift!  That was very kind of you.  We spent yesterday trying to change some of our money into Euros and Pounds.  We went to our own bank first and they told us it would take as much as 10 days to get us the money.  This was on Monday and we leave the following Monday.  They suggested we go to AAA.  We did and they couldn't do it either.  All they had available was a packet of "tip money" - enough to get one started and the exchange rate they charged was very high.  But the lady who talked to us suggested we go to the Currency Exchange in Westshore Mall over in Tampa.  We stopped at home first and I looked up currency exchanges on the computer.  There was a comment from a young man moving to Japan and wanting to get Japanese Yen and that he found this at the Food Courts at Westshore Mall.  We looked at what the AAA lady had written for us and that was the same address.  But the food court?  So we went over to Tampa--it isn't far, just over the Bay--and the Mall is one of the first places you come to after crossing the Bay.  We went into the mall and there was a directory map and the Currency Exchange was shown on it--yes, right in the Food Court.

It was called CEI Currency Exchange.  CEI is the name of the travel agency we are going with.  Dad told the young boy who waited on us that the lady at AAA had sent us and said that if we tell that fact they will give us a discount.  They said "no" we don't do that.  But the manager was standing nearby and he looked down at the paperwork Dad had brought with us and saw "CEI Tours."  He asked us where we were going.  He then told the boy not to charge us the fee; he was very friendly and helpful.  So we were able to get money for the trip--which was a great relief.  I was afraid we weren't going to get any and would have to wait 'til we got there and then not have time--anyway, I had the feeling that that old fellow "Murphy" (of Murphy's Law) would be following us around.

Thanks for your advice about Haggis!  I had read something about what it was and was skeptical myself.  Our itinerary says that on the evening of Day 3 "a Scottish Highland cabaret will feature haggis and other traditional foods and we will enjoy bagpipe music, song and dance."  Well, I know for sure Shortbread is good; particularly yours.

I know that you probably will not be able to read this until you return from CBLI, but I want you to know that we will be thinking of you and John on your Anniversary on the 4th.  I know you always went to that special restaurant in Camp Lake and that it is no longer there; also, that John will probably not be there because he used to come when you lived in DeKalb.  But I hope your anniversary will be meaningful anyway!

Thank you again for all your love and thoughtfulness!

I love you,

Mom

Thu. Nov 10, 2011

Dear Wendy:


Just had to tell you that I just finished reading "I'm Not Who You Think I Am" by Peg Kehret.  It was a quick read ('course it's for kids!), and I loved it.  She is a great writer.  I tried to get "Runaway Twin", I think that's the correct name of the one you told of in your Blog . . . but the library didn't have it.  I also got, and read, her book - "Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey" (Juvenile Biography-Kehret, P).  That was a great read too.  I literally couldn't put it down.  Peg Kehret grew up in Austin, Minnesota!

I know you don't have time to read this month, but maybe later you might want to look that up.  I also saw on our Library's internet catalog that Maeve Binchy has a book called "Maeve Binchy's Writer's Club - 823.914BIN.

It was nice to read that your boys are interested in your month of writing.

Thinking of you!

Love you lots,

Mom

Austin, Minnesota is where my grandmother used to live. Amazing to think of a famous author coming from that tiny farm town.

How I miss these letters from my mom, hearing her response to my blog posts, gleaning her book reactions and recommendations, etc. Perhaps I will locate more letters when I begin to sort through papers in the basement (another new year task - however that one is far more daunting and I will probably put it off, as usual). It made me want to set another task for the new year - compiling letters for my boys - they would surely not save them if I wrote them and handed it to them now, but perhaps if it is a letter to open upon my demise, well ... one can hope they'd be interested in a backward glance at their own mother.
====================

Addendum: On Saturday, January 18th, my dad took a fall, hitting his head and breaking his arm. Given my mother's increasingly limited mobility, they really needed someone to come assist them during this healing phase, so I left on January 21st to take care of them until February 4th - thankfully, I had a few blog posts pre-written and scheduled. I know this will be terribly unsettling for my mother, but I am grateful for the opportunity to be with them in their time of need and to provide something of value despite her resistance to any presence besides my father.

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