Happy Day After Mother's Day Mom Memories

 Remembering my mother, Mary Rowena (Campbell) Davis.  

This year I didn't post anything on Facebook about my mother.  Most everyone else does, usually I do as well.  But I am still in the throes of post high school graduation anxiety from Ellen's graduation activities this past weekend, so I just couldn't handle another emotional post. Not that I  really had any actual anxiety at all from Ellen's graduation, but it was an emotional time, paired with throwing a party for her afterwards, so it was just too much for me to add more emotional memories on top of the mix.

Of course I miss my mother terribly, but I wouldn't want her back into the dementia-ridden life she was living at the time.  

Over the course of the 50 some years I was blessed to have her we made some fun memories and had a great deal of laughs.  We never did do anything grand as a family, really.  I remember when I was about 5 we all went, as a family, to New Mexico to visit my father's old home town.  "We" being my mom, dad, myself and older brother, Dan, and sister, Leslie.  But that was it.  So the majority of the memories of my mother involve just everyday living.  The small things that make up the bulk of real life; cooking supper, playing board games, her exasperation with me when she would take me clothes shopping before school started every year.  I hated clothes shopping.  I still do.  Ha! More small memories center around going to church, going out to eat occasionally, reading books, helping her and the elementary school librarian catalog all of the books in the library after school was out for the summer.  I remember countless phone calls with her during all the years I lived in Portland and then when I moved out here to Missouri. 

  This picture above is of her at a family reunion in about 2016 or 2017; I'm not exactly sure.  She was having a great time.  My father was not a social person so she never really got out to large gatherings in all the time I can remember growing up.  But she loved getting out among people.  She was having a ball here.  She knew no one but me and Gary and his immediate family, but she enjoyed just watching people.  She forever wanted a cup of coffee to sip from. 

The funny memory here is that every time we went to a family reunion my mom would want to pay someone.  She'd go to rummaging in her purse to find cash to pay someone for her meal.  I'd always have to deflect her attention to something else.  Yes, most people would contribute toward the fees for renting the hall  for next year, but no one would charge a guest like that.  Haha...

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 Here Mom is showing off the floating teacup craft we made at a church ladies meeting.  This was back before 2019; so some time between 2016 and 2018.  Her hands were so stiff and swollen by arthritis that she couldn't do fidgety little crafts, but she would tell me her color scheme and what she wanted to add and I would put it together for her.  As you can tell from the photo, she would be thrilled.  She loved getting together with all the ladies; she would laugh and yak and repeat herself ad infinitum.  Everyone was so patient with her and would listen to her stories over and over with no hint of the exasperation they might have felt.  On the drive home she would talk about how much she enjoyed the ladies meetings and what a great group of ladies we had.

At that time we were still doing secret pal gifts monthly. Each time was given a gift she would just beam with joy.  We'd laugh because she'd always ask whose birthday it was and would want to sing happy birthday.  She would take each small item from her gift bag with an exclamation of delight; dish towel, candy bar, coffee mug, whatever trinket...each one was to be bragged on and shown around.  I would put them back in the bag and set it aside in her walker.  But then 5 minutes later she would see it again and want to look at it all again because she couldn't remember having opened the gifts at all.  I finally had to take to hiding her gifts from her so she wouldn't get distracted.  Haha...  Funny memories now, but it was exasperating back then.

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 As far back as I can remember my mom had this little ceramic zebra collection.  She only displayed a few of them, but in storage she had well over 30 of them; all shapes and sizes.  There were about 4 of them that were stamped on the bottom; "Made in occupied Japan." I doubt they would be worth too much, but they are unique.  After my father passed away and she had moved into an apartment she got the whole collection out and displayed them.  For those last couple of decades of her life anything zebra themed became an easy gift for her.  I found the above huge zebra portrait online and gave it to her for her birthday one year, when she was here.  I think by that time she wasn't too interested in zebras, but she was duly impressed by the size of this one.

After my mom passed in 2021 I dispersed many of her ceramic zebras out to step-grandkids and other friends and family.  I have kept many of them; the ones I love the most, especially the Japanese ones.