As Beautiful Now as Then

Dear Mom,

Here it is another Mother's Day and we still have you to call, to talk to, and to thank for being our mother. How lucky we all are. Do you think this beautiful 18 year old girl would have been surprised to know where life would lead her? That it would take her from the potato fields of North Dakota to the sunny beaches of San Diego, with stops in Long Beach and San Francisco along the way. I wonder if you would have chosen this path knowing the hardships you would face. We are all grateful you did. I sincerely hope the rewards of your life have been stronger than any regrets.

I used to wonder if you had planned to have such a large family, and so close together. Did you realize we would all be teenagers at the same time? And that time would be the 70's with its radically different ideas of morals and life. I wonder sometimes how you survived us!

You also gave us a love of family. My memories of family gatherings are full of laughing until I cried, of enjoying the company of my family, and for this shy kid it was wonderful to have a place I felt I fitted in. There are so many wonderful memories from those magical days for me. We faced the too early loss of Cathy together, and I know how much Ed loved being a part of this family. That family grew with the addition of each husband or wife, and then the joy of grand children. Now you are even being honored with great grandchildren. I would love to list them all but I'm afraid of missing one. Think how many lives you have affected in your 80 plus years on this planet.

You should be proud, though you never finished high school, you instilled such a sense of learning, of self-reliance, of a need to accomplish something in this world in all of us. Three of your children not only finished high school but went on to get college degrees and the other three have had businesses or careers they loved, and we have all tried to lead meaningful lives. I hear your pride when you tell me of my brother or sisters' accomplishments. Thank you.


Right now you struggle with health problems but we consider each day you are here a blessing. Know that I think about you every day and wish I lived close enough to spend more time with you.

You are as beautiful now as you were then Mom.


Love, Barb

May Day

When I was in 4th grade I remember we had a huge May Day celebration. There were three fourth grade classrooms so we must have all combined to have as many people as I remember. All the girls wore white blouses and full skirts and we made triangular neck scarves to wear. The boys wore slacks and white shirts and also had neck scarves. I remember the folk dancing, the singing, and the dance around the May pole which I thought was so exciting. We had made streamers out of many different colors of crepe paper and I thought the finished May Pole was so beautiful. We had also made little nosegays for our moms which I remember leaving on the doorstep, ringing the doorbell and running away. I also remember picking flowers for neighborhood moms and leaving them on their doorsteps, usually their own flowers.

If we were taught a reason for this celebration other than spring time I certainly don't remember, and growing up in the vast suburbs of San Diego we didn't have any ethnic heritage in common. We weren't celebrating the labor movement nor were we celebrating a pagan holiday. However, I do remember within the next couple years we were told that celebrating May Day was 'inappropriate' and the school would no longer have a party.



My childhood May Day of flowers and rebirth collided with the May Day of the Cold War, of Russian tanks rolling past Russian dictators, and the paranoia of McCarthy, Nixon, and the Red Menace and it died aborning.