My mother's birthday...

On August 9 in the year of 1917, my mother, LaVerne Elizabeth (Johns) Roberts, was born in Blair, Nebraska. She died in 2000. In remembrance of my mom on her birthday, here are 10 easily remembered features about her:

1. The love.
2. The family. (Nothing was more important to her than family. She would rather be with family than do anything else. She loved family gatherings and visits with family. Family photos were abundant and cherished.)
3. Her smile. (Including her smiling eyes. I remember my Dad saying that, no matter where he was or how he was feeling, he always looked for the smile on my mother's face because it always made him feel good.)
4. The dinner table. (The food was great. The conversation was great. We always gathered around the table, before or after watching the TV evening news. We referred to the three meals of the day as breakfast, dinner, and supper.)
5. Her cooking. (No matter what was left in the kitchen cabinets--and sometimes there probably wasn't much--she always had the ability to make a great meal out it, and there were specific food items that are particularly memorable, like cherry pies. There were numerous food items that only she could make. To this day, I miss her cherry pies. They weren't precisely store-like. They were just the opposite--Very runny and drippy, more sour than sweet, but very delicious. I have aunts that make wonderfully delicious pies, but I have yet to find any cherry pie anywhere exactly like the way my Mom made it.)
6. Her belief in education. (Though she never went to college, she loved the aspects of learning. A set of encyclopedias was the major occupant and reference point in our living room bookcase. Other than church, the library was the main place I visited in my youth because of her encouragement. She insisted that her sons go to college.)
7. Sundays, church, and car rides. (Every Sunday didn't seem complete without first attending church. Congregational, Presbyterian, or Methodist--whichever church was located in the town that moved to. She enjoyed singing in the church choirs. She had taught Sunday school classes. Most of my spiritual and social beliefs involving peace and goodwill toward all and treating others as I would want to be treated and other qualities were nurtured by my mom. One of my best memories in Scotland was attending a service at St. Giles Presbyterian Church with her. As inexpensive entertainment, my parents enjoyed taking us children for car rides, often on Sunday afternoons. My Dad would drive--my Mom never learned to drive a car--and we would go out into the country or just around town, usually stopping for an ice cream cone at the end of the trip. Throughout her life, my Mom enjoyed the adventure and journey of a car ride. Even when she rode in a wheelchair for easy transportation in her later years, she wanted it to move with speed. I imagine the view of me trotting, as I pushed my Mom in her wheelchair down a sidewalk and she enjoyed the breezes in her hair was a memorable sight for others.)
8. Her help. (Whether it was in reading books--she would read many children's books to me--or with my homework--though that didn't include modern math--or proof-reading for my newspaper in Medicine Bow--she was the best speller I have ever known--or volunteering at a museum or other projects--she enjoyed helping.)
9. Our trip to Scotland. (When my brothers and I took my mom, then elderly, to Scotland, it was fun and very memorable.)
10. The moments and stories. (Everyone has moments and family stories about their parents, grandparents, or others. For my Mom, there were many, including in her last 10 years when her health conditions were like a rollercoaster. It's nice to know that, within the long course of a lifetime, the good and special moments stand out so clearly and joyfully.)

Thanks, Mom! I love you!