Mom

 Today is nineteen years since Mom passed away.

I can't imagine what she would be like if she had lived, like Hisao, they are frozen in time, in my memory. 

One thing remember are all the stories she would tell us of her childhood.  These are the things that I remember and I know that memories are weird, they change and get distorted.  So if my Dad and brothers remember different things, that's okay!  I'm sharing my memories.

How to catch a rabbit, was a story that had me giggling a lot.  Mom was the youngest of eight children.  Her mother, my Grandmother, died when Mom was just 6 years old.  My Granddad worked on a farm, long hard hours, so her older brothers had to watch Mom a lot.  Of course, as boys they wanted to be off on their own adventures!  To keep Mom busy they taught her how to catch rabbits.  They would take her to a hole, place a lettuce leaf with some pepper on it and a brick next to the leaf.  The idea was the rabbit would smell the lettuce, come out of the hole, sniff the pepper, sneeze and knock itself out on the brick. Apparently, Mom spent most of the day watching this hole, the fact that there were no rabbits inside didn't matter, it kept Mom occupied while her brothers went off doing whatever they wanted!!

I remember Mom making fantastic fancy dress costumes for me, I actually won one year, I was dressed as the Queen of Hearts.  Mom made a dress of red and white crepe paper, a cardboard crown and even the jam tarts for me to carry!!  There were fairy wings made of old wallpaper,  doing puzzles together and songs at night, even though she couldn't sing.  There were games of eye-spy, the one I remember was playing with Steve.  He had something beginning with 'M', Mom and I guessed for ages, finally had to give in!  Turned out to be a motorbike going down the road!!! Water fights in the summer and if we were lucky to get snow then snowball fights!!

Even though 19 years have passed I still miss her.   As I watch my kids grow up I want to call her and tell her all the daft things they do!

Found some photos

I don't when or where

She thought I had no film in the camera

At work

With Alan

With Hannah, a year before she passed