This is my mother's high school graduation photograph. A few short years later, she would marry my father and on September 21, 1956 (a very stormy fall evening) she gave me birth.
My mother was a homemaker for the first 16 years of my life. She was always there keeping the foundation under my feet. My father, it seemed, always wanted to have his own business, so it wasn't long after we moved to Okemos, Michigan that my mother joined my father in building the Precision Service Company. For many years she was there, alongside dad making a life for themselves and their family.
My father died a few years ago and mom is now a widow. She has busied herself in the business of being a clown (she is a professional clown), she loves the Red Hatters, she belongs to the 50's+ group in her church and she enjoys being around her family.
I owe my creative streak to my mother. If you happen to peek at my Flickr site (right hand column of this blog) you will notice my photographs. One of the things that you will probably notice is that I am addicted to color. I love saturated colors. This is from my mother. My mother's bedroom is glow in the dark purple, the dining room is bright blue, her bathroom is shocking pink. Her world is alive with color. She also has every conceivable nook and cranny filled with her artistic creations, pictures of the family, clown memorabilia as well as a few silly things to play with that generally bring a smile to ones face. My mother has made an indelible mark on my life with her love of color, things created by her hands and a general appreciation of the beauty around us.
When I was a child, we were a family that needed to carefully watch our pennies. I will always remember, when a particular Easter rolled around many years ago, she took cottage cheese containers and together we painted them and covered them with broken egg shells and turned them into Easter Egg Baskets. All four of her children treasured those Easter Egg Baskets.
When I was a boy scout, she helped me win first place in a contest to make something out of nothing. I don't remember what the event was called, but we had a wire hanger, a coffee can, some string, a piece of cloth, nails, screws, etc. From those things, my mother saw a jack in the box and together we built the first place entry! When the Pinewood Derby would roll around each year, I never won the race, but I did win the most creatively produced car...every year as I recall.
These are my fondest memories of you mom! Thank you very much for your creative gifts. Thank you very much for spending time with me when I was a child to develop these things in me. I will always cherish these things about you and promise to send your gift down into the generations to come.
Happy mother's day mom! I love you.
