Wayback Wednesday: In Memoriam
This is a post from a couple of years ago in celebration of my mom whose birthday is today. It's been edited to reflect that she has since passed on, but I will always equate Valentine's Day with her instead of chocolates and flowers.
Today is Valentine's Day, and for most people that means candy and flowers. However, the day has never been about romance for me because it's my mother's birthday. I'm blessed that she lived close by for almost twenty years and was in good health, something I don't take for granted. She was an intriguing mix of her parents: shy and an avid reader like her mother, and tenacious and independent like her dad.
Born in the middle of the Great Depression, she was raised on a farm in a small town in Maryland surrounded by lots of extended family where she was more comfortable with outside chores than being in the kitchen. As a result, she had an encyclopedic knowledge of plants and trees and could easily have had a career as a landscape architect. You should see her front yard! (Unfortunately, the new owners of her house aren't quite as gifted.)
By the time she started school, the country was at war, and several of her uncles and cousins went
 |
Mom and her brother,
my Uncle Lawrence |
overseas to serve, some of whom didn't return. Despite being fairly young during WWII, she had strong memories of collecting scrap metal and looking at the maps on the front of the newspapers. She recalled her mother saving fat and mending the family's clothes rather than making new ones. Because of living on the farm, rationing didn't affect Mom or the family as much as it did my dad who lived in Baltimore City, although she did talk about gas rationing and the fact the family rarely went anywhere. She was eleven years old when the war ended.
Her folks scrimped and saved to purchase a piano and arrange lessons for her. She took to the instrument like the proverbial duck to water and by early high school was playing for the church choir. Further saving allowed her to attend Western Maryland College where she obtained her bachelor's degree in music and met my father. They married, and she followed him to various locations first with the Army, then Citgo, and finally IBM. At each location, she got involved in their church's music program, often serving as church pianist. Her love of books prompted her to start libraries in several of her churches.
She had friends all over the country and faithfully corresponded with them using the postal system. That's right - no email for her. She'd much rather handwrite a letter - a lost art. And folks didn't have to be far away for her to bless them with a card or letter - I've received quite a few myself (many of which I still have.)
Happy birthday, Mom! I wish you were still here so I could say how much I love you!
_______________
Dial V for Valentine
Valentine’s Day is perfect for a wedding. If only the bride will agree.
Being part of the military is not just a job for Fergus Rafferty, it’s a calling. He’s worked his way up the ranks and doing what he loves best: flying Apache helicopters. The only thing that will make his life complete is marrying Celeste. After he transfers to a unit scheduled to deploy in three months, he’s thrilled at the idea of marrying before he leaves so they can start their new life. Except Celeste wants to wait until he returns. Can he convince her to wed before he leaves?
Celeste Hardwicke has just opened her law practice when she finally accepts Fergus’s marriage proposal. Not to worry. She has plenty of time to set a date, then plan the wedding. Until she doesn’t. But a quickie wedding isn’t what she has in mind. Besides, why get married when the groom will ship out after the ceremony? When she stumbles on her great-grandmother’s diary from World War II, she discovers the two of them share the same predicament.
At an impasse, Celeste and Fergus agree to call into WDES’s program No Errin’ for Love. Will DJ Erin Orberg’s advice solve their dilemma or create a bigger divide? One they’ll both regret.
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