A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 2

​A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 2

Continue with me in my first family history memoir/narrative from A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 1.

Blessed by More Gifts of Passion to Help See Her Through: 
Everyone needs some kind of  passion in life to help see them through the tough times. My mom was very fortunate to have such passions to help her move forward in life. She had always loved arts and crafts of any kind,  from card making, cake making, ceramic painting, making Halloween costumes, making wedding decorations, thinking up ideas for parties, and the list goes on. She also loved to refinish furniture, and during my childhood, I remember her always picking up furniture from flea markets or the side of the road to refinish them. This was another refuge.​
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My mom absolutely loved animals. She picked up so many strays and nursed them back to health, including our family pet, Muffin, and even birds, and squirrels. I will never forget the time I saw her give mouth to mouth to a baby bird, just to make sure it survived! She was such an animal lover, that sometimes she would only use her heart and forgot to use her mind. An example of this that I'll never forget, was from when we were up in Yosemite when I was young, and she saw a baby bear cub, and she just had to go to it out of instinct. When she called out for my dad to come and see it, he was frantic and knew what would be in the midst, but it was too late; he had already seen the mama bear coming!  Throught the years, we had many pet dogs, cats, hampsters and bunnies. In later years, her pet birds brought her much joy and comfort. 

A few of her earliest cards at the very beginning of her card making

Some of her early cakes

with our dog, Muffin and a litter (of many) of kittens; Muffin frequently took care of them

Halloween ca. 1979

Halloween ca. 2010

Making sure the decorations are just right

Her Favorite Time of the Year: 
Not only does one need passions in life to help get them through the tough times, but everyone should always have something to look forward to, in order to press on in forgetting the past. For my mom, these were the holidays. The holidays were my mom’s favorite time of year, as long as she had her family with her! I knew how important this was to her, so made sure she never missed a holiday without us. I will always remember how she tried to make every holiday extra special by going all out up to the final touches from the decorations to dinner and the dinner table, and even down to the decorating of the sugar cookies, which I always looked forward too!
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Stay Tuned:
Stay tuned for Part 3 in this month long memoir celebrating my mom, for a Mother's Day tribute

Next Up:
The Turning Point, Using the Gifts She Was Given to Spread Joy, and more 
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Note: 
All photos are copyright protected and are owned by me and may not be downloaded, screenshot, or saved in any other way without my explicit permission