Mother’s Day

Posted to OGR on 05/09/2010

The older I get the more I am amazed at how much effort mothers put into “making memories.” When I think back to my childhood and adolescence, memories of things my mom did for my brothers, sister and me come rushing up like previews on the drive in movie screen. Simple things like making us sandwiches for lunch on a sunny summer day or the extra work she did before and after a drive across town to the beach. Salt, sand, towels and bathing suits were everywhere! Coming from the time when most mothers were stay at home moms, I arrived at home after school every day to a room that was cleaner and neater than when I left it. Sure, my brothers and I had to make up our beds and pick up before leaving that morning but I could always tell that she had been in there straightening up while we were at school. She did the same for my sister’s room. When Dad came home, there was always a delicious home-cooked meal and then we cleared the dining room table. Mom washed and we dried and put away the dishes. Then she made sure we did our homework before a little TV and then to bed.

I’ll never forget overhearing her telling the ladies her bridge club one night that she was afraid of some of the electronic experiments that I left in the bedroom. It never occurred to me to think of the amplifier I built from a kit or my “razor blade” radio as dangerous, but it must have been to her way of thinking. It did have sharp edges and a battery. More familiar to her and less dangerous were the footballs, the track shoes or the ever present baseballs, gloves and bats. One thing that I will never forget was all the work she put into a party for my schoolmates in the eighth grade. She even rolled up the rug and put dance wax on the floor. Now that was a great night! Thanks Mom!

When I became a teenager, I was very interested in music. I spent hours listening to the radio and playing her Perry Como, Vaughn Monroe and Frank Sinatra records on the family Victrola. For Christmas that year, she gave my brother and me our own record player and three records; “Hound Dog” b/w “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis, “Party Doll” by Buddy Knox and “Bird Dog” by the Everly Brothers. Later she encouraged me to participate in the high school band, even though the uniform consisted of white pants and white buck shoes. I can tell you she got those pants spotless after each performance. I didn’t know it then but I know it now, a lot of love and work went into that. Thanks Mom! By the way, if you should see Elvis up there, tell him I said “Hi!”

Copyright 2010 Rick Wrigley