Ninety-four years ago today, Ira H (just the initial; no middle name) and Estella Pierson welcomed their eighth child, my mother, Ethelyn Mae, into this world. Mom had kind of a rough childhood. Within a couple of years of Mom’s birth, her mother passed away and her early years were spent moving around, sometimes being left for months with friends or relatives.
Eventually, my grandfather married Jenny Mays. To Mom, Jenny became her mother. Unfortunately, tragedy struck again and Jenny lost a long battle with cancer.
It’s strange, in spite of these troubles, my Mom was one of the most optimistic, ready-for-life people I have ever known. She always worked hard. She had to. My Dad left us when I was seven, shortly before my brother Jeff was born. We never heard from him again until I was in college and then only because the Sheriff went to Pennsylvania to pick him up at his brother Pete’s funeral.
Mom had only gone through the tenth grade because her father did not believe in women attending school. But, Mom loved to read and this helped make up for her lack of formal education. She took great interest in current events and was a staunch conservative and great patriot.
Money wasn’t plentiful while my brothers and I were growing up and, sometimes, the electric company would shut off our power, but we had something more important than money: our mother’s love and support. We never went hungry, but we ate a lot of potatoes and macaroni.
I miss my Mom every day and look forward to seeing her on the other side.
Happy birthday, Mom!
Until next time…
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