Things My Mom DID Do

A few weeks back, I posted a sad post about things my mom missed out on. Tonight, I am thinking about all the things she DID do, which are many!

- She loved traveling and travelled to hundreds of places, all around the world (many of which we went to together). She took me on my first trip, driving to New Orleans, when I was not even 4. We stayed at the Olivier House, ate at fancy restaurants, and walked down Bourbon Street where I looked through the doors at the "fancy ladies."
- Among those trips, she went through the Panama Canal, stayed in Morocco when the king was visiting, went to her favorite places like Hawaii and Thailand numerous times, brought babies back from Korea, kissed the Blarney Stone one Christmas, went on her own to Brazil (in the early 1970s!), swam with the dolphins, and climbed through rice paddies in the Philippines.
- As well as trips with me, she went on several trips with friends, experiencing exotic places and the fun of just hanging out.
- She went to Amelia Island, Florida every March, where she rented a beach house on North Fletcher Road and enjoyed the ocean all day.
- She worked a career she loved at Children's Home Society for many years, and then went on to found several small businesses, including a Halloween shop and clothing trunk shows before they were common.
- She bought her house on Summit with my dad in 1965 for $20,000, restored it, added on to it, built a swimming pool which she used every day, and loved all of it.
- She held notoriously boozy holiday parties with eminently 50s appetizers (rumaki and crab toast, anyone?).
- She loved Christmas, decorated to excess and baked 15+ kinds of Christmas cookies, plus lefse and quick breads.
- She read voraciously, crafted when she thought she *should,* and knitted haphazardly. She played a mean game of bridge.
- Although we did not go to many arts events when I was younger, when I got older and started to work in theatre she started attending a lot and loved it. She liked to go to small local theatres and the occasional big extravaganza like "Riverdance" or West End shows in London.
- She got to see me graduate 3 times. She was so happy I married Patrick. She was proud of Max and Miles, and of her whole family and all her friends.

Comments

Unknown said…
She lived well and bequeathed that skill to you,the very best gift I can imagine.

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