My Mother's Senior PictureWith Mother's Day on the horizon, I couldn't help but take a moment to tell everyone about "my mom." The older I get (wait let's change that to the more mature I become) the more I realize what a remarkable woman my mother was and how extraordinarily lucky I am to have such an amazing woman for my mother. My mom was the youngest of 7 children (her brother just older than she was died as an infant), born and raised in the wilds of Nevada. She spent her growing up years in Ely and was a youngster during the depression, and a teenager during World War II. Both of these experiences as well as being raised LDS in the gambling, ranching, mining community she did, served to shape her character. A shy, rather reserved individual, she mustered up the courage to leave Ely at the ripe old age of 18, get on a bus with her bag and move to Salt Lake City, where she secured herself employment with an attorney in the Boston Building. She found herself roommates and lodging and started out life there. Her boss was a taskmaster, demanding, particular, and requiring perfection of his employees. (Wouldn't my mom have loved a lap top, Microsoft Word with spell check!) She spoke of the long tedious hours of typing, and re-typing and not making any mistakes; of longer than long days, over-time without over-time pay and of the sheer joy of my dad telling her boss, "My wife doesn't need to work, I will support my family, Anna is finished." My mom married quite young, just 19. She was the perfect wife and mother. She had her hands full with four babies in 4 years! She mopped her kitchen floor EVERY Saturday night, the last thing, after everyone had gone to bed. . .oh and did I forget to say that it was done on her hands and knees, because mops just "pushed the dirt around." My mom didn't learn to drive until she in her late 40's, yet she always managed to take us to church, fulfill church responsibilities, participate in the Republican party, be a faithful visiting teacher, a member of the VFW Women's Auxillary and more. She was an excellent housekeeper, a wonderful cook, she was thrifty, smart, her home canned food was beautiful, her flower gardens had no weeds. She supported my dad in his work responsibilities by attending social events,at the army base even though it was outside of her comfort zone. She opened her home to her mother and father in law as my grandpa had lung cancer. She cared for her mother-in-law for nearly 10 years. She was a widow at the young age of 52. She was a temple worker, she served a mission ie a proselyting mission in her 60's having both older sisters and younger sisters as companions, she was a beautiful quilter. She instilled in me the desire to "quilt" for my loved ones and carry on the tradition of baby quilts. She was a devoted faithful friend. She loved her children and was proud of her children. She was a beautiful grandmother. She was patient, kind, diligent. She NEVER spoke ill of anyone. She also died young. She taught me so much of what I know. The greatest compliment I could give my mother is that she had an undying testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bore that testimony to her children and grandchildren in word and example; and I was lucky enough to be born her daughter. My mother is an example of the influence of a faithful woman on future generations!
