It was early 1960s and Cathy was about 16 and I was about 13 and she LOVED the actor John Kerr. She called me up and wanted me to see "SouthPacific" with her and then 2 years later "Crowded Sky"...they both had John Kerr in them, so I went both times with her to see the movies. Both good movies!
For as long as I can remember, our mom was always reading a book or two... or three. As my brother mentioned in a previous story, she even read in the passenger seat while we teens learned to drive! During our vacation travels by car she always had a stack nearby her. Even on train trips she insisted on taking a bunch of books that took up half her suitcase!
She kept a collection of her favorite books so I am looking forward to reading them in the future.
As for cards, she loved playing and collecting them. Poker and bridge were two of her favorite card games. She spent many years playing both and loved it. She collected sports trading cards and postcards since we were kids. She even had a baseball card shop for a few years where she bought, sold and traded cards as a hobby.
She kept a special box of the sports trading cards aside for my brother which I am sure he will enjoy having and she also set aside special boxes of postcards for each of her grandchildren which I am sure they will enjoy having too.
I will never forget, or be able to express, how much "Sharing Mother's Day" meant and will always mean to me. Having lost my own Mother many years ago, and being far away and out of touch with my own boys, I was invited to share in the Mcdonough Mother's Day celebration dinners. I will miss you Cathy and will always remember your kindness and generosity. I will also always cherish and remember the many Christmas celebrations we all enjoyed. God Bless and keep you in his loving arms.
I'll never forget our trip to Target... Cathy had broken her arm 14 months prior, and I had birthed Emily via c section 2 weeks prior. I needed to get out of the house, and Cathy was willing to drive me. We went to Target for various things and decided to get a watermelon. In our conditions, boy did we struggle (and laugh till we had tears) to get that watermelon into our shopping cart, then onto the cashier's conveyor belt, only to find ourselves carrying that daggone watermelon to the car in the pouring rain. What a trip... Needless to say, the men unloaded the car when we got home. Thank you Cathy for the memory and your constant smile!
Cathy enjoyed the finer things in life...as long as they were old and from roughly 30 years ago or even older! Old glass bottles from the deppression era? Love em! Vintage jewelry with fine detail and gemstones that would make a hollywood costume designer envious? She had literally boxes so full that it was hard to keep track how much she had! Notice a piece of American Indian culture or a depiction of early 20th century life? It had to be added to her collection. Rustic furniture from the 1800's or a mid-century modern piece from a top designer? I probably moved it from a house, to our van, to a storage shed, to a van, to a house at least 3 times. (Hey, it kept me in shape through my teens)
What was interesting about all of the antique collecting was that my mother turned it into a tremendous "side hustle"! From as long as I can remember, my mother was constantly buying and selling antiques as a business opportunity on the weekends. She had tables at antique malls, flea markets and would travel to sell at huge shows. I spent plenty of time helping set up and break down at those events. (...if I only new then, that there would be entire freaking television shows focused on the subject in 20 years...I would have paid better attention!!!)
She was an early internet adopter and was selling on ebay quickly after oppening up our AOL account around '94-'95. One of her best flips, was buying 5-6 kentucky derby glasses for $5 at a thrift shop and selling each individually for over $500! She loved to hunt for great value as much as she loved the pieces themselves.
She also helped work on and eventually ran estate sales in the Pittsburgh area. My mom always worked hard to make sure her clients got the best deals they could. Just another way that my mother helped others in difficult times.
I'm sure as a child I was a pain in the...well, you know were, while my mother worked on her passion. However, now I realize how much that hard work actually helped us live a better life. So for that, I'm very grateful.
There were many wonderful vacation days with my brother Jimmy and Cathy. Cathy loved the cruises and the Irish entertainment on board. She enjoyed our trip to Ireland and our yearly vacations in Ocean City Maryland. Cathy loved the beach, the sun and the card games.
Anyone that knew our mom even a little bit knew how much she loved trains. She traveled on them since she was a young girl. She and our dad made many vacations traveling by train. They went all over the country. I fondly remember one of our trips - when we were young, we traveled from Pittsburgh to Louisiana to visit with friends that lived there and my dad who was working there at the time. I think it took 3 days or so and I remember the air conditioning broke after day two. Yikes! Will never forget that! If it weren't for my mom's love of trains I probably wouldn't have heard of the auto train that runs between Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL. I use it once or twice a year myself to migrate. If I had to guess, I think that was her favorite Amtrak route because it took her back and forth to visit with us every year.
A little story I told Cathy's children which they were not aware of, when we were growing up she paid me to eat her peas when we had them for dinner, I just couldn't let my parents see me doing it, she hated peas! Also, I made even more money cause she didn't like to get her hands wet so she paid me to always wash the dishes when it was her turn, we were to take turns washing and drying, but I always ended up washing, needless to say I was a rich little girl!
Collecting and trading post cards was a huge hobby for my mother. She loved all types of vintage cards that depicted early to mid 20th century americana. Think classic trains and mad men style advertising. She also loved cards from artists that were rare and beautiful. This hobby led her to join the website PostCrossing.com. On that site she exchanged post cards with people all across the world. Fittingly, on the first day of her hospice stay, a package arrived from Germany that had about 6-7 post cards with hand written notes. I sat bedside and read the inscription and described what was on the front of each card. I know this brought great peace to my mother. Thank you to all that have sent cards to her, each one brought her great pleasure.
A funny story we discussed with my family recently was the interesting technique my mom used while teaching her children to drive. She would sit in the passenger seat and calmly read a book while we weaved in and out of traffic making rookie driver errors!
Either she was very confident in her children...or that was a damn good book!
ps...3 children, at least 3 books, over 80 years of combined driving experience and no major driving mishaps!!! So it worked! (That is fist against wood you hear knocking)
