Tell us about your mother, do you have a special memory of her?

From: Connie Farrington

A recollection of my mother, Isabelle Harris.

Mom is now 96, lives two houses away in Harrisena, and gets dressed up for the hairdresser once a week right down to a glitzy necklace which, of course, has to match her outfit.

Anyway, here's one of my favorite recollections. I had been wearing a seatbelt for decades thanks to safety training by my DuPont employer. Once I asked Mom why she never wore a seat belt, especially when she drove WAY over the speed limit. (She was probably in her early 80's at the time.) She said "I don't have to wear a seat belt. I carry a new hundred dollar bill so I can pay the fine."

From: Connie Olson

Yes several wonderful memories. Where can I start there are so many it will be hard to pick out one special one. Growing up, the teen years. My children visiting grandma and grandpa. Her favorite saying was "I love to see them come over but I still love to see them go home too." All are wonderful and warm memories. But the one that sticks with me the most is when she was terminally ill with liver cancer and was close to the end of her time.

The "Hospice" social worker had brought us a teddy bear named "Spinozaa" that had a cassette player in it's tummy. She brought with it several tapes to be played for the ill person. Ocean sounds, gentle soothing music of all kinds. They were to be used to help ease the pain and hopefully for the ill person to enjoy listening too.

My daughter at the time had just quit her home health job to work at our local school. After work she would come everyday to visit, and give her grandmother a bath. My sister Charlene who lived in the cities had taken time off of work to help us and to be here till the end. She was the first person in her company that had used the new program Pres. Clinton had instituted for families of seriously ill people to have a "Family Leave" so they could be with loved ones without losing there jobs.

One afternoon nothing seemed to be working for the pain , mom was becoming very restless so we put a tape in Spinozaa tummy for her to listen too. To make a long story short we choose the tape of harp music. Played both sides of it over and over that afternoon. She was sleeping comfortably and appeared to be content with it.

When Denita came over she started washing her up, she then woke up with a scowl on her face and was actually angry looking. Denita asked her "What's wrong, are you in pain?" "No" she replied "I heard beautiful music. I though I was in heaven with your dad my mom and brothers who were there. We were listening to the angels play beautiful music on their harps." When Denita woke me I realized I was still here on earth." We didn't know what to say. She died several weeks later if I remember correctly. We played that tape and several others for her she sure enjoyed hearing them. When she passed away the entire family was here. We were all around her bed holding hands, we were taking turns saying prayers. I was the last one to pray. I then told my mom it was all right if she wanted to leave us and go home to see Jesus and to see her loved ones, that we would all be fine here not to worry." We said the Lords Prayer together, dropped our hands and opened our eyes. We looked at my mother, she looked so peaceful with a small smile on her face. She was not breathing her eyes were still closed, she had left us while we were praying with her to go home to Heaven.

From: Lois Rotella

My Mom was my best friend. She encouraged was kids to do what we wanted to do or respect that that we may not know what we wanted to do. She also expected us to do what was expected of us. She made sure we finished school. She loved to travel. I remember several trips we took. The one that sticks most in my mind was our trip to Hawaii. We had such a good time. She also was close to her brothers and sisters. I think the only thing that bothered her the most was that she lived a distant from them. I think the crafty things I do is from her and the interest in the family(genealogy) was encouraged by her also. She was a special Lady.

From: Jenny McMurray

There are so many things I could tell you about my mom, but the one thing that I am thankful for is that my mom taught me to be self sufficient. Now that I am older and have children of my own, my mom has become my best friend. Not that I don't need her as a mother, but our relationship has evolved into something better. I am grateful for her listening ear, her shoulder to cry on and for all the times she was there.

From : Philip Harris

I have special memories of my Mother. I recall when food was scarce she would not eat until all seven of us kids were fed. She worked very hard even doing laundry for other people. She went out to work cleaning other people's homes and bought our first oil burning stove. That was the end of the wood stove. I recall one time my father was in jail because of his drinking and all we had to eat was corn meal mush. When my father was in the service she scrounged and bought me a used bicycle. She lived a hard life but she had a great love for all us kids. When my father got out of the Army he was a total alcoholic and he was real mean to my mother. In later years he recovered and life was easier for my mother. She loved their Mobile Home they bought in Jenkinsville. In her last years she was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis. The years of hard work took its toll on her. I would pick her up and carry her into the Dr's office. The last months of her life were spent in our home. She was the greatest.

From: Lucy Welden

I have special memories about my mom, she was kind, loving and usually had a smile. Mom was always there when we needed some one to talk with, she was always there for her grand children she was even babysitting her great grand children when she was 80 yrs old, she never gave up. She was a lot like her mom, my grandmother.

From: Renee Zamora

I have so many memories of my mother she was very interesting. I can recall her giving directions and stories to us that took a very long time to explain. We laugh about her doing this. But the one memory I wanted to share is how I drove her nuts. I used to invite several friends to church each Sunday. The only problem I wouldn't tell my mother we needed to pick them up until it was right before church started. She would always get so mad at me and yell, and try to teach me to tell her things before hand. But, still every Sunday she would pick my friends up and drive us all to church. I never remember her saying no to picking them up, even though I always told her at the last minute. Mom might of complained about things sometime, but she always did what was right. I loved her for it and my friends did too.

After my mother died I went through her papers and found the old letters I had written to her. She kept all these little notes, cards, and things we gave her over the years. It really touched my heart to see her keep these things all those years. Now I have them to remind me of her.

From: Brenda Olszewski

My mom was the best mother! I loved watching her cook. When I was little I would sit on the counter and watch her cook. I learned how to cook from her. That's my favorite memory of her. I also loved to hear her talk. We talked alot. I called her when I was upset or sad and I would always feel better. My girls do that now with me. We are close like that too.