1. Favorite food that Mom cooked: I loved so many of the things Mom used to make, I would sit at the barstools in the kitchen and just watch her, or I would help her prepare it. I always loved her stir fry, and how can I forget enchilada’s it might of been the way we made them in Venezuela, at least that is what I remember you all saying. Like Kristi said in hers, I always loved coming home from church to the smell of a roast or anything else they put in before. It’s hard for me to remember even the simplest things like this, so it will be good to hear from everyone and see what you all remember. My absolute favorite thing to eat/make with Mom were the Valentine cookies. She taught us how to decorate them so pretty, and people still to this day wonder how it is done. It is a lot of work to make these cookies, and takes a lot of time, but I have great memories doing it. We would make up plates for all sorts of people and she would always pick out the prettiest ones to give out. People never understood how we made them and why they tasted so good, the secret is almond extract! I’ll post the recipe so we all have it. The other tradition was on Easter we would make these white chocolates and put them in molds and they were so good, it was so much fun. I know there are so many more that i’m sure you will remember.
2. Favorite Memory: I apologize in advance if some of these answers are the same in other categories. It’s hard to think of my #1 favorite memory, but if I have to it would be the holidays, the smells, and music in the home. It was always very festive at our house and you knew what holiday was coming even if it was Flag Day, she had a decoration for it. I also appreciated how much time she spent at our schools, I remember being in Elementary school and her always being there putting her showcase together for the month, or teaching classes on Impressionism Art.
3. What would you show her if she were here? That’s an obvious one, my baby girls!! She would of absolutely gone crazy over them, and I think that’s one of the hardest things for me to deal with. I really could of used her love and support through the first year, but i’m sure she witnessed it all.
4. What do you miss about her the most? What don’t I miss? I miss not hearing her voice, hearing her “corny” little words and phrases. I miss hearing her slam her brush down in bathroom because her hair wasn’t working, even though it always looked the same no matter what day it was. I miss that she missed out on being retired, traveling the world, and enjoying her children and grandchildren, that is what I miss the most.
5. What thing do we do, like mom, that we said we never would? Stress out so much about things, such as, making sure the carpets are vacuumed when someone comes over. Really never keeping a dish in the sink, i’m not as OCD as she was about that but, I don’t like it. At times make a big deal out of something that is not, she easily got her “feather’s ruffled”. She always would have us racing around picking up anything off the floor, etc. if someone called and said they were coming over. This is something I never said I would do, but find myself doing. If I know the home teachers are coming, everything in the front room has to be put where it belongs. Nate at first, he is used to it now, could never understand why it has to be this way. It’s what I learned from her, and I guess that’s how I feel the most comfortable too.
6. Favorite Tradition: Now this one is just not fair, there are sooooo many!!! Christmas Eve and Christmas morning “take the cake” as she would say. I loved our program on Christmas eve and preparing for the yummy dinners. She always set the most beautiful tables, with the fine china and silverware. She made them feel really special, and it’s those feelings that I won’t ever forget. My other favorite tradition was on Thanksgiving, saying what we were thankful for before we had our feast. We had all sorts of crazy things said and done around that table!
7. Most important thing she taught you: She taught me first and for most how to serve, she was always thinking of someone and what she could do for them. I always would see her writing a little note to someone, or doing quiet service. She had such a love for the missionaries and the office couple, she just loved to have them over whenever possible. She taught me so much about how to raise a child, I got to watch her with Jeffrey and i’m so glad I did. Otherwise, I would of missed out on so much more. She taught me the importance of putting children on schedules, and i’ll always remember her telling me that, “you put the child on the schedule, the child does not put you on the schedule”. That has turned out to be very valuable information because, I can see how easily that could happen. She taught me to keep a clean home, she wouldn’t ever think I would say that i’m sure.
8. Funniest thing you saw her say/do? She was always playing pranks on people, and she loved to get funny cards for birthdays. She would pick these cards out years in advance and it would be for a specific person. Hey, I still have a box of those by the way, I have no idea who they are for, most of them are “Over the Hill cards.” Guess i’ll have to bust them out for Kristi this year, jk. She also loved to dress up for Halloween, all the years I can remember she would show up to Marshall Elementary School as a witch, and she looked good!
Every couple months Mom would be upstairs in her dressing room, trying on her clothes, I guess just for the fun of it. She took her appearance very serious, and other’s always noticed and commented.
She was so funny about her hair, being a hairdresser I know how basic her haircut was, it’s the first cut I learned in school. She would go see Donna, our at home hairdresser, and she was so patient with mom. Mom was one of those clients that I would consider to be my pickiest of picky, and Donna just loved Mom. Mom would go home after a haircut, almost every time, and would literally find one hair doing something funny, and she would call Donna. I don’t say this to mock her, it was just funny to me, especially as a teenager. I would always say to mom, “Your hair looks fine, I don’t even know what she fixed”. It’s just the way she was, she was a perfectionist in so many ways.
9. Name something she did not like: She did not like an unclean home, this stressed her out beyond belief. A dish in the sink made her crazy. She was very protective of me, and did not like me walking even down the street, by myself. She hated the water, but loved to go on cruises:)
10. Name one that was her favorite: When I think of favorite things Mom loved, the one thing besides Jeffrey that comes to mind is SALE!!! Anything that had the word sale on it, was her favorite. I spent a lot of time with her in Winkelman’s, Big Lots, Kmart was a must, Woolruffs, (can’t remember if that is the right name, but you know what i’m talking about), you name it if she knew there was a big sale we were there. When there was something that was priced especially right, she wouldn’t just buy a few, she would buy them all. She must of had 40 different colored turtlenecks, and that is not an exaggeration! She loved sweatpants ( mush to my dismay), decorations ( this turned out to benefit us all, there was plenty for all us of when she passed on). I watched many shows with Mom and that was kind of our thing. We watched Donna Reed, My Three Sons, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Green Acres, Leave it to Beaver, Moonlighting (Yea!), Seinfeld, her favorite Johnny Carson, and all the award shows you can imagine. ( I can’t forget D-Day, “heaven forbid” we still have a lot of those tapes we haven’t seen, or have we seen any of them?”) We all knew not to even get near the t.v. if D-Day was taping. Lastly, her favorite thing of all was her family, and this was apparent in every little thing she did. Nothing she did was small, she put her heart into everything, and she will never be forgotten. I love and miss you Mom, everyday!!!
