Happy 80th, Mom

Posted March 15th, 2009 by Jen in family life, poetry, the ranch

Mom and her grandkids My mother is now officially an octogenarian. I pray the 80s will bring her peace, grace, beauty, and good health.

Here she is making her way down our driveway with a few of the kids this week, who love to go for walks with Grandma. Or be walked, as you can see a blue leash dangling by LIttle L’s legs, which he had attached to his belt loop for Grandma to “walk him.” She now limits herself to the long driveway for fear of getting lost in the forest. I must say, I do feel quite proud that our sometimes scraggly junipers qualify as a forest.

This poem she wrote over 50 years ago fits this scene and the future in heaven she looks forward to:

AN OLD FAMILIAR STREET

Will I suddenly find myself walking
Down an old familiar street,
That once had something lacking
But now is quite complete?

Will heaven be the earth again,
But me a different man–
With eyes to see things hidden now,
With wings to carry out a plan?

Will flowers be even sweeter then?
The wind at my command?
Will secrets fill me full of glee
That now I could not stand?

Will that day surely come
With its enchanting feat
When I’ll walk with distant friends
Down an old familiar street?

I don’t have any profound thoughts to write this morning in honor of my mother’s 80th birthday, just a few random memories from childhood:

She read to us often, and not the usual children’s stories, just whatever she happened to be reading. She loved books about the saints, Christian missionaries, animal stories, the Bible, biographies…

She planted a mint patch and would send us kids to pick mint for her tea. We’d eat some leaves along the way.

The Arbor was a special place to be. She built, along with my dad, a little arbor with a table and benches inside. Crawling up every side of the arbor were climbing vines of her favorite kind, of which I cannot remember the names but were special to her.

I remember discovering a nest of baby birds in the arbor – they loved it there, too.

For a year or two, my mom hosted a small poetry club in the arbor for my sister and me and our neighbor friends (mostly 6-10 year olds), and called it the Little Rhymers. I still have the poetry book she made for our club with its hand-stitched cover, filled with the endearing poetry of our little hands.

Her Boston Baked Bread was one of my favorites, as well as her homemade ice cream.

She was a most creative soul and I never realized the blessing of this until much later in life.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

11 Responses

Fencepost March 15th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Happy Birthday, Jen’s Mom!!!
I love that poem as I can relate to much of it.
Your Mom sounds like she is and has always been a sweet lady.
I wonder, when the day comes when she’s walking down that familiar street, will she remember this poem and it bring a smile to her face? I sure hope so!
Sarah at SmallWorld March 15th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I wish your mother and my mother could meet. I think they would be fabulous friends!
Dad at Kintropy March 15th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Happy birthday to your mom! Great to read your memories of your mom, too. I’ll bet that days like her birthday bring much of the sights, sounds, even smells back to you (like the mint).
Debbie Chavers March 16th, 2009 at 5:03 am
Happy Birthday to a life that made a difference. Without knowing your mom you have helped us see her through your eyes. Eyes of love. May the rest of her years be blessed and yours continued to be memories of sweet times.
Tipper March 16th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Hope she had a Happy Happy Birthday. She is an amazing woman-and I’m glad you and your family have been blessed with her!!
e-Mom March 16th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Moms are so special. Happy birthday to the octegenarian in your house. (I like your “forest!”)
julie March 16th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Your mom is precious – your home is so abundant – with kids and grandma all sharing life together under one roof. What a palace you are princess of!!

Julie
Jen March 16th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Thank you all!! We had a great day yesterday. Julie, thanks for reminding me that I am a princess in a palace–I needed to know that tonight as I labored over laundry, dishes, dinner, sweeping dirt out of the mud room for the 10th time today, scrubbing toilets, and now, finally, getting to some business work.
Grace @ Sandier Pastures March 18th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Your mom is such a special lady! Belated happy birthday to her. Now I know why you write such thoughtful posts, Jen. You grew up so inspired with a very creative mom like her!
Heather March 19th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Well, I am quite late to finally get to your blog, Jenny, but I suppose you know how such things can happen with 4 kids in the house! It was a Trumpet Vine that grew on the arbor. What I remember is the glass topped table she kept in there (until a brutal wind knocked it over) and the wooden triangular recliner she made for the end of the bench. Did you know that I have always had a mint patch? At every house we’ve moved to I bring some of it with me to begin a new garden. My original batch came from Grandma T.’s house, which must be why Mom had to have her own mint in her little secret garden. Can’t you picture Mom being the little girl sent to pick some mint for tea and nibbling on some leaves on her way back inside? Now I send my own little girls out to pick mint.

I remember that poem you posted; we do indeed have an incredibly special mother who gifted her children with her creativity in so many wonderful ways.
Jen March 19th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Heather, Hi, thanks for your wonderful comment! I had forgotten that wooden recliner, and I can picture myself sitting in it. How AWESOME that you’ve carried that mint patch with you everywhere, ever since Grandma’s house!! I wish I would have done that. When I come out to Michigan, I’ll have to take some of yours to plant out here–but I can’t fly with that, can I?

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Happy 80th, Mom

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