 A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother’s Day Tribute Part 4Continue with me in the conclusion of my first family history memoir/narrative, from A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 3. Another Tragedy Strikes, Another Test of Courage: My mom started childcare back in the 1980’s and continued up until 2011, when she became paralyzed due to a mishap with a CT Myelogram. She adored all the children she babysat over the years, and I believe she touched every single one of their lives; they brought so much joy to her life, and I’m sure she brought a lot of joy to theirs. After being paralyzed in 2011, she was filled with grief, as she knew she would not be able to babysit anymore, and she had thought all her activities she loved, like card making, ceramic painting, and more would no longer be able to be done. It was a very difficult time for her for the first couple of years, but she got right back to the activities she loved; it took quadruple time, but she made it happen. After her passing, I had reached out to Color Me Mine to pick up the last projects she was working on. One of the staff there, who spent a lot of time helping her and conversing with her, had said she remembered my mom coming in and spending many days, and all day, on her pieces. She remembered how difficult it was for her, but how my mom was extremely patient and would never give up, and how passionate she was with it and how much joy it brought her. My mom was a strong woman who overcame many adversities in her childhood and during the rest of her life. Some of these drawbacks included an unfathomable childhood; a childhood car accident that left her with facial reconstructive surgery and complete dentures by the age of 9; severe scoliosis; 21 back surgeries; her paralysis; losing her home and almost 80% of her belongings in the year and a half right before she passed, due to the home she was renting being sold, all while she was in the hospital battling a severe staph infection; and being moved into an assisted living home, when all she ever wanted was to be in her own home and independent. I will never forget how, the last year before she passed, she walked blocks with her walker to see me give a presentation in Whittier. I told her she would be bored with the topic, but she insisted on coming to hear me speak. No matter how difficult things were, my mom pressed on and kept her faith. It was through her relationship with God that she had hope and faith in knowing that everything was in his control, and she was able to ease her anxieties in life, which was shown through her personal journal. I will always remember her tremendous strength in trying to overcome her extreme adversities in life. Take Aways Gifted to Me from my Mom: Not only was my mom gifted with creativity that she was able to use to show her love for others when she didn't know how to show love in conventional ways, but she was gifted with so much more that she hadn't come to realize! She was gifted with resiliency, strength and courage. I’ve learned many things throughout my life from my mom, but the 2 things that stick the most are to never give up with anything and to put forth 100% in everything I do. I hope she knew just how much I loved her; she is truly missed and is greatly loved.
Interative Questions:
Do you have an ancestor or family member that showed tremendous courage during challenging times? What have you learned from a trying experience, family member or ancestor? I'd love to read your comments below! More Family History Memoirs: Read this story from the beginning and find more family history stories under the Family History Memoirs category! 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
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 A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother’s Day Tribute Part 3 Continue with me in my first family history memoir/narrative from A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 2. The Turning Point:  My mom became a Christian and was baptized in 1988 at the church she had been attending, and she then officially became a member of the church. It was at this time, along with the birth of her first granddaughter, my oldest, whom she got to spend every weekend with, that was the most significant turning point in her life. It was a new beginning to all her past regrets and helped her to forgive and move on from her traumatic childhood that she had grappled with most of her life. She loved her children very much but had a special place in her heart for her grandchildren, they were the light of her life, and she supported them in everything they did. She never missed an activity of theirs or supporting them in some way or another! They were the biggest joy in her life.
Spreading Joy with the Gifts Given to Her:  I believe that everyone has a special gift, such as a talent or skill. What do you choose to do with your gifts? My mom loved using what she really believed to be her one gift, the gift of creativity, from God (revealed after her death in a personal journal) for the purpose of bringing joy to others. She incorporated this into teaching Sunday School and Early Childhood at her church, and she always thought up the most adorable new crafts and activities for them. She had a hard time showing her love in conventional standards, because of her childhood, but you could see how much she loved by the time she spent putting such detail into her thoughtful handmade cards and gifts for family and friends, and by the time she spent helping and supporting others. I will always cherish that she had figured out she had a special talent and that unknowingly, she used it to show her love in an unconventional way to bring joy to others by making things for her family and friends, and how much time she put into it. I will never forget how she watched my children for me, so I could finish up school- from the times she took the bus all the way to my place to watch them, to the time she underwent the medical training to be able to watch my youngest for me. It takes a strong person to be able to see light after being in the dark for so long. It was through her love of God and the quality time she got to spend with her grandchildren, that she became the softer, more caring, and compassionate woman that she was known by, and how she had finally come to know love and how to freely give it. You could see that in her interactions with her grandchildren and how she helped others. She visited the homebound, helped those dealing with chronic pain, and helped those dealing with physical challenges, all through programs offered through her church. She loved to help others and give back, and she made many friends along the way through her activities at church. Not only was she able to help and give hope to others, but unknowingly, she was able to do the same for herself.
Interative Questions:
Did you have a major turning point in your life that helped get you through tough times? Have you used a special talent or skill that you have to hep others? I'd love to read your comments below! Stay Tuned: Stay tuned for Part 4, the final part, in this month long memoir celebrating my mom, for a Mother's Day tribute Next Up: Tragedy Strikes, Another Test of Courage, and more 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  A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 2Continue 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. 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.
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! 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 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  A Woman of Courage and Strength: A Mother's Day Tribute Part 1This is my first attempt at ever writing a family history memoir/narrative or blogging about close family in one of my family history and genealogy blogs. It was one of the prompts for this month's Genealogy Blog Party at Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal's Heart of the Family and being another Mother's Day without my mom, whom I miss dearly, that inspired me. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about or miss my mom, so for this Mother's Day, I thought I'd celebrate my mom with some of my memories of her and a little bit about her life. This is a Family History Memoir of my mom, a courageous woman who tried her best to escape the pain of her traumatic childhood and live her life as normal as possible. Gleams of Light through the Trauma: My mom was born in 1948 in Massillon, Ohio and raised by her stepfather and her mother. She had 3 younger brothers who had all predeceased her before she had passed in 2019.
She came out to California with her family when she was almost 16, in about 1963, and this would finally be her chance at a new life and to escape her painful childhood.  Tijuana, about 1963 It was here that she met and married my father, in 1965, and had my sister and me. They divorced before I was born, which I hadn’t known until I started my family genealogy. She then had my brother.  My mom and father during a brief period of trying to reconcile, with my brother, sister and me, about 1971 In 1971, her family went back to Ohio after the tragic death of her oldest brother, while she remained here with her new family. Out of a tragic event, came an unexpected light of hope through the disconnection with her family.  My mom with her oldest younger brother, Russell "Butch" in California, about 1963 In 1972 she met my dad, when I was 3 ½, giving her another glimmer of hope and a chance at happiness and normalcy. They later divorced in my teenage years, but they still had remained good friends, up until the end.  My mom and dad on their first wedding anniversary, 1980 Without going into the details of my mom’s extremely traumatic childhood, out of respect, I can say that she was a strong, courageous woman to try to live a life of normalcy as best as she could, while also trying to block the flashbacks that forever haunted her. An Escape to Get Her Through the Tough Times: My mom loved Ice skating and got her first pair of skates from her mom when she was 11 years old, and she first skated on the frozen pond down the hill from her home in Ohio, but she had to keep it a secret. This was her escape from her childhood; at least for a short time each day she got to be somewhere else and forget all that she had to endure when at home. This passion helped her escape the painful memories of her injurious childhood throughout her life. She skated in numerous ice shows when I was young, and I remember practically living at the ice rinks in Burbank, Culver City, West Covina and Santa Monica. She joined the Coffee Club at the Pasadena Ice Rink and had a grand time skating and getting together with her friends there. She skated until her last year on the ice in 2006. Who would have known that one gift of a pair of ice skates would bring with them a lifetime of havens?
Connecting the Dots to Her Freckles:
Oh, a funny little memory just popped up. I remember practically living at Santa Monica Beach when I was young; we were there every single day in the summers because not only did she love the beach, but she insisted that eventually she would get a tan, but only ever connected the dots to her freckles. :) Stay Tuned: Stay tuned for Part 2 in this month long memoir celebrating my mom, for a Mother's Day tribute Next Up: Blessed by More Gifts of Passion to Help See Her Through, The Turning Point, and more 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  FeedSpot's 100 Best Genealogy Blogs and Websites 2022 FeedSpot’s 100 Best Genealogy Blogs and WebsitesKnow Who Wears the Genes in Your Family’s website and family history and genealogy blog has made it to FeedSpot’s 100 Best Genealogy Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2022, at #34! You can check out my site at Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family or follow my blog for genealogy research, research tips and resources!  Best 100 Genealogy Blogs and Websites: Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family About FeedSpot: FeedSpot is an all-in-one content reader where you can read all your favorite blogs, news, YouTube channels, social media, and other websites in one place. From FeedSpot, you no longer have to go to each site separately. So, if you want a place where you can view all your fave genealogy blogs in one place, you might want to check them out.  FeedSpot All-in-One Content/RSS Feed Reader Some of FeedSpot’s Top 100 Genealogy Blogs and Websites:
I see many of my faves on their list and some I’ve never heard of, but then again, it’s such an extensive list. So, maybe it’s time to check some new ones out. 😉 If you haven’t already, you can click on the links that I’ve provided to a snippet of some of the genealogy blogs and websites that are on their list and check them out, or you can go on to FeedSpot and check their list of hundreds of genealogy blogs and websites out there at FeedSpot 100 Best Genealogy Blogs and Websites! Interactive Questions: Do you recognize any of the blogs on this list or in their top 100 genealogy blogs on their site? Do you follow any of these? What are your favorite genealogy blogs or websites that you follow? I’d love to hear your comments below in the comment section! More Genealogy Resources: Learn about more family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page. |
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