My mother would have been 100 years
old on Wednesday.
Mama gave me too many gifts to list, with
the greatest being a Christian example that radiated her love for God. She
taught me to sew and to love music (although not enough to motivate me to
practice piano), and she also instilled in me a love of reading. This last is
the subject of today’s blog.
Both my parents made sure my brothers
and I were faithful library patrons. Daddy taught me to read before I went to
school, and he always encouraged my interest. But Daddy’s taste was very
different from mine, and it was Mama who really sparked my love for reading.
As a girl, I read many of Mama’s
books. When she married Daddy, she left a number of her childhood books at the
Iowa farm where she grew up, and I read them on visits to my grandparents. My
favorites were the books from the “Little Maids” series by Alice Turner Curtis.
I probably could have taken them home with me, but it was nice to have that
special library to look forward to on our trips to Danville.
In junior high and high school, I
discovered the classics Mama had read during her college days. My favorites
were The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner by George Elliot. I
also enjoyed Mama’s many Grace Livingston Hill romances.
Mama continued to be an avid reader
until the end. Whenever I took her to the doctor or the dentist, she was sure
to have a Guideposts magazine in her purse. She also subscribed to Readers
Digest, two Christian romance book clubs, and several newsletters from
groups active in the Middle East.
Our tastes diverged somewhat as we aged,
but I’m still following Mama’s example, and I want to keep reading right up to
my death just as she did.
Happy birthday, Mama.
__________
I took this picture on Mama’s 96th
birthday, which was the last one she celebrated on this earth. The other people
in it are my son-in-law, Pete; my daughter, Caroline; and my older brother,
Donald.
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