What do you admire most about your Mother?

 What do you admire most about your Mother? 

At the end of each day my family would gather around the table to eat supper, my Father always at the head of the table my Mom to his left and the five kids scattered around the rectangular stainless/formica table with matching chairs.  We said a prayer, very brief and never led by my father.

Starting on the right,  Sharon, Terry, Peggy, Tracy, Mom, Mike and the empty chair was for my Dad.  

We were living in rural Ohio, near Lake Erie on the Little Portage River.  My Dad worked construction and my Mom was a waitress.

Supper was the only meal of the day where we all came together, and recounted the day’s events plus we always had new tasks assigned or reminded of over due ones.  On a typical evening my Mom would insist that the children take two or three slices of bread prior to sitting down to dinner.  At the time I thought she was just trying to get rid of bread but now it is clear she was trying to fill us up.  

As “farm folks” we always had a big garden and the bounty always found it’s way to our table in the form of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and watermelon.

Mike working the garden with the tractor at 7 years old… 

Looking back I now know we were poor but it never felt like it, my parents went to great lengths to make our house a home.   We always seemed to have what we (children) needed, celebrated all holidays and generally had a very happy childhood. During the summer a typical meal would have the garden vegetables and in the winter the same type of vegetables only canned.   Yes, my Mom canned all sorts of things.  We would often have fish we had caught, ducks we shot or any variety of wildlife we could find.  When we were lucky enough to have chicken or beef it was very special. So there are seven of us crowed around the table all with healthy appetites and there would be only one chicken.  My Dad would always go first and he would always take a breast… At this point you should know that I was the youngest of five… yes, last for everything.   Because meat passed from my Dad to the left where my Mom set, your position at the table was vital for your fair share.   Typically by the time it got to me I would get a wing or leg, never one of the prime pieces.  Seems funny now, if I was feeding seven people, one chicken would not cut it these days but back then it worked.  

I always thought it strange that my Mom’s favorite part of the chicken was the back and tail… she would make a big deal at the table on how no one could touch that part of the chicken because that was hers!  I always thought, go for it… I hated that piece, there was never any meat on it but it looked like a regular piece of chicken. Now with aid of hindsight and a better understanding of Mothers it is obvious Mom was sacrificing for all of us and doing it in a very magnanimous way.

Mom and Dad at table. 
I wonder what else my Mom did for her family that I will never know? So what did I admire the most about my Mother?  She raised 5 children (successfully), worked a full time job, always tried to make each child feel special, never said anything negative about my Dad (while I was a child), was a fabulous cook and was never afraid to take a risk… I miss her

Christmas 1960