Friday Foto Friends...Just Wow!

Dear friends, Here it is Friday, and I really didn't have any photos to share with you until a few minutes ago, when my dear niece Sandy in North Carolina, sent this old family photo to me that she found at her parents' home.  I am overwhelmed with joy and happy tears, to say the least.  What a perfect picture for Mother's Day weekend...

This is my family on our farm in Pennsylvania, many many years ago, probably circa 1952.  

Left to right: My brother Clifford, My brother Russell, our dog Laddie, My Mother Dorothea, my sister Doris, My Father Bill Mursch, and then last, but not least, little me!!! "The Little Redhead", as I was known by everyone back then.

How I love this photo.  I'm not sure what I'm happiest about the most...one thing, that it is my whole family and it is in color! That's a blessing. It is especially special because now three of those family members are now in heaven, my brother Russell, my mother, and my father.   And also, that our dog Laddie was in the picture with us! I don't know if we have any other pictures of Laddie, and I loved him so much.  I remember taking walks with my mother down the lane every day to the mailbox, and Laddie would walk along beside us or lead the way...

and then when we sold the farm, Laddie was given to someone else because we were moving to Florida and didn't have any way to take him with us.  I know I cried and my mother cried too. She and I both loved Laddie.   And my mother really didn't want to leave the farm. She married a farmer and always wanted to be a farmer's wife!  But in the 1950's farming was difficult.  If you didn't have lots of money to go big, you had a hard time keeping up.

And so a decision was made to sell the farm and auction off all the equipment and Black Angus cattle and other animals, etc.  I don't know all the details. I was only 5 at the time and I really didn't understand what was going on.  All I knew was we were leaving the farm and all our beloved pets and things behind.  We had to store a lot of furniture at my Uncle Paul's farm in his barn because we couldn't take much with us.  We were moving to a very small 2 bedroom apartment in Florida, which was to be temporary until Daddy could get a new house built. We actually moved a couple more times into little houses before the new house was built, and once the house was built we went back up to PA. and brought down some of the furniture we'd left behind, but there really wasn't much.  The only thing I remember looking for was the little green wicker doll buggy that my sister Doris and I played with, and for some reason it wasn't there anymore.  No one seemed to know what happened to it.  That's probably why when I found this wicker doll buggy in my parents' attic many years later, after they died, I brought it home to live with me:

Of course I already had a special purpose beyond just nostalgia for wanting the doll carriage...those of you who've been around for awhile have already heard the story of "Baby Elva", but just in case you haven't, here's a link to her history

So anyway, I guess I don't need to keep going down memory lane so far today, but I just had to share that photo of my family with you.  Also it goes along with the fact that this is Mother's Day weekend, so it's a good time to remember our mothers and the sacrifices they made for us for the betterment of our future.  Moving to Florida was hard for my mother, because she left behind not only the farm and way of life that she loved, but we moved farther away from her aging parents and all of her extended family. But because in the long run it would be better for our family to make that move, she acquiesced to my father's plans and made the most of our new life in Florida.

In loving memory and to honor my mother...

HERE's a link to a story I wrote about "Flowers for Mama" several years ago, that kind of tells a little more about her, and here's another link:"A Kiss From Heaven".

Okay, back to whatever you were doing.  Thank you for taking this little walk down memory lane with me. I am sure we are all thinking of special memories of our mothers this weekend. I hope you will share some of yours.

Have a blessed and wonderful Mothers' Day weekend, no matter what.