Thursday 13

Yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death. She died on August 24, 2000 of pancreatic cancer. She was 56 years old.

So here are 13 things about my mother.



My mother at my wedding.

1. She was a good cook, though I tend to remember her flops more so than her masterpiece creations mostly because they were humorous and stand out in my mind. There was the year of pumpkin pudding instead of pumpkin pie, for example, and duck that tasted like mud.

2. She could sew and frequently made my clothing until I hit high school and insisted on store-bought goods.

3. Her collections of items were many - bells, plates, figurines. She kept most of it behind glass in curios.

4. She worked for 30 years for the same company in Salem, VA, which was just a block away from her mother's house.

5. She was born in an apartment above a grocery store on Lowe Street in Salem. She was my grandparent's first born, and both of them were quite young (under 18, I think? Not unusual for that time period.).

6. We lived on a farm but I never thought she cared much for farm life. She grew up in Salem and while there was a rural quality about her childhood - her grandparents and parents had chickens and a big garden - I don't think she cared much for cows and putting up hay and the hard work that went along with it, especially since she also had a full time job while we were growing up.

7. She canned and put up produce from the garden. The pressure cooker she used always scared me because it was so noisy and it seemed like it was going to blow the roof off the house.

8. Her son (my brother) was her pride and joy.

9. She had a temper, but then, we all do. She liked flowers and the iris was her favorite. She liked her flower garden.

10. She served meals on blue china, which were the every day plates. They were quite lovely. I wish I had a picture of them.

11. Her decorator's eye was keen and she made a nice home for my father, simple yet elegant in style.

12. She loved to go to Myrtle Beach and enjoyed the beach more than the mountains when she was in her 40s. She said she felt better at the beach.

13. She had a good voice and could sing. And my grandfather called her "Liz" because he thought she looked like Elizabeth Taylor.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 462nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.