I’ve been thinking long about what to write for this post. There are so many things concerning Mother’s Day that I could write. I decided to share some memories of my mother, who I still call “Mama.”

I was out picking dew berries this evening, and thinking about what to write, when I remembered long ago when I was a child picking dew berries with Mama. She made dew berry jam, and the best dew berry pies; after enough of them made it to the bucket while we ate plenty along the way. We picked figs, muscadines, and other fruits as they came in season. That’s one of the things I’ve passed on to my kids as they grew up.

Making “frog houses” is a learned skill; one my brother and I mastered well under Mama’s teaching. There is an art to making them in such a way that they actually withstand taking one’s foot out of the little dirt hut when it is finished. When a hut was firm so that it would not collapse, and one’s foot was out of it, then came the landscaping. With our imaginations, we picked up quickly how to find seedlings and other weeds to use for trees and bushes in the yards of the villages we built in the sand bed under our old oak tree. We would let them stay as long as possible, then go on to something else.

I learned how to cook at a young age. Mama was very patient with me. She gave me my first cook book when I was about five years old. The name of it is, “My First Cookbook,” by Imperial Sugar Company. I remember Mama guiding me through the recipe, “Humpty Dumpty Eggs,” and a few of the raw eggs missing the bowl. Mama said I went through a dozen eggs to get four in the bowl to scramble. I did better the next time, and went on to make several recipes from that book, and learned to make several other things like cornbread and purple hull peas which were staples in our family’s southern diets.

Mama started teaching me to sew in the 4^th grade. I come from a long line of practiced seamstresses; not that I am as accomplished as many other women I know of. Mamaw Holley, my mama’s mama, was known for her tiny, perfectly even stitches. Patience has never been a very well developed virtue in me, so I never developed the skills Mamaw Holley had, although I have enjoyed sewing for roughly 43 years. I could never thank them both for teaching me this skill that I treasure.

We always had plenty of things to play with; some were bought and some were common things that we learned could be “toys,” too. We were rarely bored when we were growing up, thanks to Mama nurturing our imaginations. That is a valuable gift in my opinion.

My parents have been there for me through every experience in my growing up years, and my grown up years, too. They were a great model in how to be there for my children as they grew. One of the most important ways they did this is in teaching my brother and me about Jesus from before I can remember. They helped me understand who Jesus is, and how important it is that I know Him personally. That, to me, is priceless. This legacy has been passed on to my children through Roy and me, and through our parents.

Thank you, Mama, for the gifts you gave to me in the things you taught me along the way. My children benefitted from the way you and Daddy raised me, and I am so grateful God gave you to me for my Mama. There’s no way I can ever repay you for the gifts you’ve given me over the years. I love you more than you can ever know.

Have a very blessed Mother’s Day!