Great Women..

The other day I did something that I haven't done in years..I read a book. It was one of those projectless days and I had been curious about the book that Linda was reading so I thought..."What the heck". The book is called, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I had read the author's other book, Tuesdays With Morrie and it was a cute book. I found this one intriguing in the way the author counted the minutes till the character died and then who the five people were that he'd meet in heaven. An overall premise of the book is the connectivity that all of us have and how we touch each others lives, whether knowingly or not. We can have a profound impact on someone's life and not even know the person. Without giving any more away about the book, I'll leave it at that.

So on this Mother's Day, this book made me reflect on the impact of two great women in my life. The first is my maternal grandmother. A farmer's wife who worked as hard as my grandfather on their dairy farm, up until his death. My mom has told me that grandma used to drive a horse drawn school bus and later would work in the kitchen at Mansfield University. My mother too drove modern day school buses and apparently her love of cooking stems from her upbringing in my grandmother's household. A consummate gardener, I remember the huge poppy patch that my grandmother had in the front yard, along with countless flower beds around the house and a big garden out back. In my childhood it was common to have a "canning" kitchen and my grandmother had one in the basement. There were always wonderful smells coming from that room as she made sauces, jams and jellies and all sorts of pickles. My fondest memories are the Sundays I would spend at my grandmother's house once she moved into a mobile home over near my mom. I would ride my bike to grandmas and we'd have pickle sandwiches on fresh, home-made bread and watch classic movies on PBS...Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple, Humphrey Bogart, etc. She would show me her latest crocheted quilt or tatted doily and we'd laugh and laugh over the silliest things. She had the greatest cackle and never took herself too seriously. She was a wonderful woman !

So too is my mother who will be 84 this July. She has her own business making jams/jellies and all sorts of candies and wonderfully sweet concoctions. She has more energy than most women a third her age. She mows a huge lawn, still drives and loves to go to the casino once in a while for a day out. She loves to follow our adventures on the road when I call to talk to her and she is our meteorologist to let us know what bad weather lurks in the area. She has always been so supportive and has always been there when I needed her...no questions asked. Happy Mother's Day mom....

Remember those people who have had an impact on your life...tell them what they mean to you. So many times we think about it but we never tell someone. It can make all the difference in the world to someone. Happy Mother's Day to one and all !