TELL ABOUT YOUR MOTHER

PERSONALITY, CHARACTERISTICS, STATURE, COLORING, TALENTS, TEMPERAMENT, AND STORIES ABOUT HER

My mom tended to be very friendly to other people—first impressions are very important and she behaved that way. She had friends who came into her life and she never let them just move away. She would write letters (this was her preferred method to communicate across long distances) to them. Some friends wrote back. She would only write about once every four months to most of them, but her mom she wrote every couple of weeks. Her mother-in-law she wrote to about every month. I think this tells you a lot about her personality—it’s also a talent—to write and to keep friends for decades.

Her stature was a large head with short (about 3”-4 long) dark loose curly hair, parted on the side and the long hairs were often held back with a clip when they started to get too long. She stayed in the house a lot. She didn’t know how to drive and bus service wasn't available on the Mesa in Santa Barbara until I was in high school. She did drag the hose to keep the lawn watered. That was about her greatest exercise.

She could be patient to a fault, yet, she seemed more a ‘white’ (Hartman Color Code), than any other color—passivity to survive. So she was 'blue' for friendship purposes and used 'white' skills to survive in the marriage.

I remember her using some crayons and making a picture of mountains and trees. I don’t know if she missed them (we lived by the ocean and she was raised in Kentucky), or just had that desire to create something from her heart.

She was a great seamstress. This is my favorite story about her: I was going to go to a high school dance but had to work that day. While I was gone to work she made me a dress, in one day. That was a labor of love—I know, I’ve done similar things since then. She was great with a sewing machine—it was an old Singer Featherweight and didn’t even have a back stitch button on it. You had to stop sewing, lift the presser foot, turn the garment around back wards, lower the presser foot, stitch it 7-8 stitches, and repeat the process to get going in the right direction. Her zippers always looked great and her button holes were perfect.

Another talent of hers was that she would play cards with me at night—this gave me a feeling of self value. To do something so boring as to play cards (Rummy) or dice (Bunko) with a kid for hours in the late summer evenings has to be a talent.

Also she fought with my dad to let us kids finish high school. She knew the value and importance of an education. This is foresightedness and therefore a talent.