Mom would have been 101 today! I miss her very much. And I miss Dad too. It’s strange to think they are both gone now. It’s been tough getting used to her not being here, since I’m still living at the house Mom and Dad shared with each other, our family, extended families and many friends over the 42 years they were here. There always seemed to be something going on, work in the garden, every kind of fruit and vegetable being processed one way or another, people dropping by to visit, Mom cooking up food, large family gatherings, lots of discussions, many of them heated, lots of music, games, Perquacky. The old house seems too quiet now – I miss that constant commotion.
These last two years I was privileged to be Mom’s caregiver, sharing this house that has seen and heard so much. I won’t lie; caring for Mom was sometimes a challenge, as anyone who has experienced this care giving thing will attest. But there were the good times and wonderful memories, too, and I wouldn’t have had it otherwise.
Many know that she kept diaries of every day of every year they were here (the first we found started in 1972) and she would sit and re-read them remembering (and sometimes not) things they did that day. Dad picked apples or berries, pruned trees, planted this or that; she canned eight quarts of applesauce, 12 pints of jam, or froze 20 bags of beans, made pies for dinner, sitting night after night cutting apples to make gallons and gallons of apple juice. Or she would write about who came by for a visit (many, many visitors), or the activities of the kids who were staying with them at the time. Always something. For several years Mom and Dad were one of the host families for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra’s performers, providing a home for the kids to stay while they were here for the Tribute to the Trees concert in the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens. Some returned years later—remembering the good food and wonderful apple juice -- to visit and stay with them again
Mom was a special person. Everyone loved her -- a testament to the kind of person she was. I’ve gone through her address books – they had so many friends. And she maintained those friendships through the years. She always remembered everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries with a card or a call. She was a great cook and I know that was something she missed when her arthritis in her hands got so bad. She had a great appetite – she could chow down with the best of them, even up to the end she was a good eater! But she always kept her slim shape – wish I could have inherited those genes! She also had a major sweet tooth – loved See’s candies, chocolate of any kind and would always ask for “just a small cookie” after dinner. Whenever I see a banana I think of her – she always wanted her banana in the morning.
She will long be remembered by so many people. Mom was an unforgettable woman.
I love you Mom and I hope you are with Dad, who you missed terribly, walking through some orchard somewhere.