What Are Your Favorite Childhood Memories of Your Mother?
As the proud mother of two toddlers and watching them learn and grow instantaneously, such as the recent Easter celebration and all of its traditions, the dying and hunting of eggs, pictures with the Easter bunny, church and family gatherings has me thinking about my childhood.
Regardless of whether you sadly lost your Mother too early or she is still alive and active today, I would love to encourage you to take a few minutes this Mother’s Day to write down your childhood memories of your Mother that you remember and cherish.
Writing down “memories” sounds more difficult than it is. Once I started writing the memories began to come back to me and even a few tears and laughs as some of my favorite recollections resurfaced that I had already slightly forgotten.
Whether it was her perfectly manicured nails, the soft cherry scent of Jergens lotion, or her laugh, it’s those small and intimate moments that you want to remember all your life and your children and grandchildren will enjoy knowing someday.
It’s good to write down our recollections. As vivid as the moments may seem at the time, memories fade.
My Childhood Recollections of Mother
She was and still is an avid reader, her head always buried in a book and I still think it is incredible how she can read a book in the matter of a few hours.
When I was a child my Mother was very passionate about writing, a dream of hers to publish a book of her own. Our kitchen table always covered in her typed out drafts but mostly her beautifully hand written cursive writings.
She kept a diary and wrote in every single day, she enjoys painting and drawing and has an artistic ability above any other that I have seen in my adult life.
Her favorite perfume was called Charlie Revlon Perfume, she only wore minimal makeup usually on special occasions, Our home was spotless, and you could always find a good smelling candle lit day or night and her favorite holiday is Christmas.
Music was always playing. We rarely watched television, when we did it was an old classic or a 70’s, 80’s love story film. My name Alexis, is from the name she first heard and loved as a teen when first watching the 1978 American Romantic Drama Film “Ice Castles” –Alexis “Lexie” Winston.
She was very athletic throughout her entire life into adulthood. She walked, rain or shine, to and from her office on Main street for many years. She even participated for several years during the summer in our small town adult softball and volleyball leagues. She push mowed our large lawn, and you could often find her grunting in the next room to a “buns” or “abs of steel” video, but it paid off because she always in great shape.
We took frequent “penny walks” flipping a penny at every corner, heads leading us right and tails left. I’ll never forget the childhood thrill of never knowing where we were going, some days across town and the others around the block, but it didn’t matter as long as I was with her.
We went canoeing or swimming at our local lakes and river every weekend.
She made the best eggs in a basket.
She is usually humming or singing under her breath without even realizing it because she always has “a song in her head” and if you spontaneously ask her, she’ll tell you the song and title immediately without hesitation.
She has a tremendous green thumb. I remember her gardens luxurious with fragrant flowers that she spent hours pruning and fertilizing. My mother could grow a morning glory vine from here to heaven if she tried. While walking past, neighbors and locals would stop to conversate about her garden while she was out tending to them, she also planted lettuce, grew cabbages bigger than our heads, potatoes, rutabagas, strawberry and tomato vines for days. My mother never fails at anything she grows, even our house plants were perfect. I believe she inherited this from my grandmother which I am (still in training).
During the winter months, she enjoyed skiing, making giant snow figurines in our yard, The Greenbay Packers, bowling, cross stitching, drawing, painting, and singing to Patsy Cline albums amongst many others.
She loved our cats, one “Ed” living most of my life until the age of 21, and the last several years she has been a highly dedicated member of the Greyhound Rescue Community, rescuing her beloved Bingo, Cami and Blake, as well as helping many others find forever loving homes.
She loved playing the piano. Our piano was from a family member that had a traveling band. I will forever remember the look of it, pine wood, covered in bumper stickers of the places it had traveled, but Mom insisted on having it professionally tuned, and it was perfect. I would sit in the open window sill with the sun and summer breeze on my back with my legs dangling over and sing my heart out to moms favorite “you are my sunshine” which I now sing often to my children and think of this moment every time.
My favorite memories of all, I now cherish with my children is when she would read to me at night before bed, and when we were done with the books, we would share stories of our day and giggle till our tummies hurt before turning down the lights. If it was the week that I had to read during mass, I would practice aloud endlessly to her until I had it memorized because I was terrified of public speaking (even in front of the elderly on a Wednesday morning who probably didn’t hear me anyway). I Thank you for that Mom.
She continued her education as an adult in extensive english and writing curriculum courses as well as her accounting degree, a job she enjoyed. I have always admired that she can do anything that she puts her mind too.
I have many memories and several more that are not listed here, but I have documented for her this Mother’s Day and for my children to read someday. I “thought” I didn’t remember much of my childhood.
but it turns out.
indeed.
I do.
Mom, You’re the strongest person I know. To many more memories.
I Love You.
Happy Mother’s Day, your one and only, Alexis Jade
