Today, January 6, 2024, would be my mother's 107th birthday! I am updating this post from when I originally wrote it on January 6, 2021, so there may be some things edited and some new things added. Jan. 6, 2021 was not a good day, but we won't go down that road today. We are heading into a brand new year, filled with hope and promise!
Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Celebrating My Mom~Updated
This picture was only given to me recently (back in 2020) by my cousin, and it has quickly become my favorite picture of my mother. Here she is, driving the tractor on our farm in Pennsylvania back in the early 50's or late 40's. We left there to move to Florida in 1956, so it had to be before then. She was so happy as a farmer's wife. It's what she always wanted to be. My Dad was a great farmer, but in the 50's it became too costly to remain in farming unless you had lots of financial help. And so, with four hungry children to feed and clothe, they decided to sell the farm and move to Florida. My mother was not a real happy camper about moving away from the farm and especially not to Florida, so far away from the beautiful farm country she loved and her aging parents in Ohio, but she loved her husband and followed him wherever he felt he needed to go. And God took good care of us in Florida. She adapted...but to her dying day she still missed living on the farm.
These pictures have been added to my collection more recently, so I wanted to include them here for my own reference...our family on the farm, around 1952. My brother Clifford, Russell, our dog Laddie, Mom, Doris, Daddy and me!
Again, our family, probably 1954...Russell, Clifford Daddy , Mom, Doris and me!
This is my next favorite picture of my mother, taken when she was in her 80's, on the 4th of July. Yes, my mother was always the patriot. She loved her country and was a very proud American. Today I thanked the Lord that my mother is in heaven, far away from any world government. She is living with the God Who rules heaven and earth, and one day He will make all things new.
This first group of pictures was taken many many years ago, when my parents came to visit us in Ohio, where my husband was pastoring a church and working on his Doctorate in Ministry. My mother and I went shopping at some interesting thrift and/or antique shops, and we came home with a couple of beautiful antique hats. We were having fun modeling them, and my youngest son also had fun modeling for us. (He'd probably not be real happy with me for showing this picture. LOL. )
I still have both of the hats that we bought that day:
Every time I look at these hats I remember that happy time with my mother. Those are precious memories.
This next picture is a doll that I bought for my mother for her 85th birthday. She looked like my mother must have looked as a little girl...dark brown hair and pretty green eyes. And she's holding a birthday cake and has a sweet little teddy bear.
The pictures beneath the doll are of my sister and our mother and me, taken at Mother's Day one year, and her birthday the year she was given this doll.
Below are some beautiful dishes that came from my mother's china cabinet. The plates and some of the teacups and saucers were her Haviland China dishes. I am not sure if these came from my grandmother's dishes, or if these were just some that my mother had purchased through the years because they reminded her of her mother's dishes. Either way, they are wonderful and I love them.
The two Chinese designed teacups and saucers above in front were definitely my grandmother's (my mother's mother).
My mother knew how much I loved tea things and special keepsakes. That is why I framed this so I could keep it nice and enjoy it forever! Yes, she was right..."At any rate I know you will enjoy this bit of your Mother's past!! Much Love, Mom".
My mother knew me well.
I know I was blessed to have had such a wonderful mother. Lately I've been hearing other people discuss their relationships with their mothers, and so often they were not pleasant memories. My mother and I certainly had our "moments", especially when I was a teenager and tended to be quite sassy. There were times I didn't understand her moodiness at all (but later I figured it out to be menopause and then she also dealt with low blood sugar issues). But one thing I knew for sure, my mother loved me and all of her children fiercely. If she fought with us it was because she loved us so much and wanted us to be safe and sound in mind and thought...at least in the way she thought we should think. She loved a good debate, which I discovered was a hereditary trait from her father and brothers...and loved to discuss politics and religion. She was very opinionated and didn't compromise on much. But that was one thing I respected about her. She knew her mind and she stood strong on principle.
I will finish with a passage from our morning devotions found in I John 4:7-11
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9. In this the love of God was manifested toward us,
that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
So let us love one another, regardless of our differences of opinion.
Here are a couple more pictures of my mother.
These are her sisters Margaret and Belle, and Mom (Dorothea), is the little one with the cute chubby cheeks on the right.
And below,
Margaret holding my mother (Dorothea), their brother Truman, and sister Belle
My mother around age 19:
Okay, that's enough family photos...but I just wanted to share a bit about my mother on this, her special day. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom!
God bless you all,
and
God Bless America, land that we love.
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Happy Heavenly Birthday to your mother! Beautiful and fun pictures!
ReplyDeleteLove the family history. Happy Heavenly Birthday to your Mom! Thanks for sharing all the photos.
ReplyDeleteThat’s so sweet. Your mom was very attractive.
ReplyDeleteI just love this! You have so many nice photos of your beautiful mom! The tea towel from her is so special.
ReplyDeleteMy mom would have been 90 just before Christmas. She was only 69 when she passed away. I wish I had more photos of her!
Sweet memories. Happy heavenly birthday to your Mom. Love the photos. ((Hugs))
ReplyDeleteHappy Heavenly Birthday to your beautiful Mom. She is so pretty. I agree about being happy some of my loved ones are in Heaven now and not here for things that are happening around the world.
ReplyDeleteThat tea towel is a treasure. I love that she hand-signed the note.
Blessings and love,
Betsy
What a beautiful lady your mother was! I know you treasure those pictures and her tea towel. Mothers are such a blessing!
ReplyDeleteYour mother was such a beautiful woman, inside and out, Pamela. That she enjoyed talking politics reminds me of my own mother with whom I had some pretty feisty spats. Dad was the one who always kept our holidays on an even keel - lol!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday in heaven!
What a beauty, your mom! I think there's an old photograph somewhere of my own mother at the drivers seat of a tractor. Unlike your mother, however, mine could hardly wait to leave her parent's farm. Both of those old images of her with her siblings -- why I'm struck at the resemblance to the one of you (ca. 1952). I love the one of her in the hair dryer bonnet; that sure brings back memories! And those fabulous hats .. such a host of treasures. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeletePam, this is such a beautiful tribute to your mom! I have my moms first doll she ever got, (she would be 87 the end of this month, thinking the doll is probably 80 give or take) she is broken I need to find a doll repair and have her fixed. I always love finding new pics of mom, still have many to go thru! (new post)
ReplyDeleteYour mother was gorgeous. You look like her...my mother was wonderful. She had me as a teen...we did not argue...I always appreciated what she did for me. Just never went through the teen years...she called me the peace maker and told me I was so sweet...awwww Mother...she died age 60. I spent 90 days and nights in her hospital room...my life changed forever in so many ways....a difficult time, but I loved every minute with that woman. I miss her every day of my life. This was a beautiful tribute to your mother. I do not know what you are referring to in 2021 that was a bad day but...
ReplyDeleteThat tea towel is such a lovely keepsake, Pam. Brought some tears. You have a treasure trove of cherished photos and I always love seeing them. Happy Heavenly birthday to your dear mom. I can see you in her face. xo
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this tribute to your mother, she was beautiful and happy birthday to her! Hope you have an amazing New Year!
ReplyDeletexoxo, MIDORI
https://www.midorilinea.com/blogs/midori-linea/my-new-creative-outlet-for-my-daughter-hannah
Thank you, Pamela, for sharing these wonderful memories of your mother and family. I am praying for all of you right now.
ReplyDeleteGod bless always.
Your third photo is one I’ve seen on your blog before and I really like it. I like how you are turned to look up at your family. It illustrates your curiosity about things. It’s also interesting to think about how much shorter than your older sister you once were and now she’s shorter than you.
ReplyDeleteHats — I’ve been watching some old movies (really old). It’s interesting how women used to wear hats so much more than we do now.
The picture of your mother and her sisters at the table outside is so sweet. And the snapshot with the bonnet-style hair dryer — wow. I’m so glad we aren’t slaves to THAT anymore!
You have some priceless photos here. Happy Birthday to your mother!