May "Theme"

Here are the options for this month’s theme (the bold one is my choice): Cinco de Mayo/Kentucky Derby, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day     For this tag, I went into my stash of scanned slides to find this photo of Mom.  She was always cold, so it’s interesting to see her smiling with several feet of snow all around her.  Probably because Daddy was taking the picture. I made a small envelope to hold a printout of Sister’s Facebook post from Mom’s birthday on February 13, 2014.  I also included responses from a number of family and friends. This is what the note inside reads; this is long, and I apologize for the formatting as it didn't come through very well from the online post.

From Facebook – February 13, 2014

My mom ...

She was kind, considerate, fun and funny. She could laugh at herself more than we could laugh at her - which happened often!

She could cook and bake up a storm and she was a loyal friend. She loved to say "horses ass" and kept a clean (immaculate!) house. She smoked cigarettes for years but wasn't a drinker.

She grew up on a farm, her house burned to the ground when she was 12 years old and she used to cut the heads off chickens. And I guess that's why she never really enjoyed a chicken dinner.

She was a fantastic dancer and taught me how to dance when I was a preschooler. I can still feel her rhythm as I stood on her feet with my arms wrapped around her legs as I moved with her.

She sat with me at the little table and chairs my father made me and taught me how to print my letters, learn my times tables and checked my homework. She quizzed me on my spelling words and taught me my prayers. She taught her mother everything she needed to know to obtain her citizenship - but not at that little table and chairs.

She loved my father and there was no other love for her - ever! She loved my sister and me and she loved her grandchildren with every fiber of her being.

She was not artistic. Once in a while she'd go out on a limb and polish her fingernails but never wore make-up - putting on lipstick was a chore. To watch her do this was comical. She never plucked her eyebrows but once in a while she'd let me do it for her and cried every time.

She loved the color pink - all shades - and hated the color yellow. Learning how to properly walk (heel-toe-heel-toe) after her brain surgery and after shuffling for so many years was something she worked on but never really grasped.

My mother and father eloped but had a church wedding with window washers as their witnesses. The renewed their vows on their 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries.

She was born at home, spoke Slovak and loved watching football. Many times she would watch one game on the television and have another game tuned in on the radio.

She was unselfish. My mother loved to watch the monkeys at the zoo. She was not rich but she would give you the shirt off her back. And she loved to fish! She was prom queen and didn't like the gardenia corsage my father gave her ... and years later, she said she could still smell that awful flower.

She was small in stature, was always cold and could be seen sitting in the sun wearing a sweater. Her coloring was olive and she always had a great tan.

She loved to camp and said her prayers every day. She cared for her mother in her home for many, many years. She was the baby of the family, had only one brother but five sisters.

She collected eggs from the hen house. She was afraid of thunder and lightening. She worked her fingers to the bone and had endless energy.

She was a good neighbor and everybody loved her. People congregated on our stoop every evening after dinner. She played with the kids in the yard and put crackers on the end of her fishing line and taunted the birds as she cast out into the air.

She had the best patch of parsley behind the garage. She was always ashamed of her nose and covered it all the time.

My mother was awesome. She was easy going, loved to 'spot deer' and she was incredible. She never learned to swim. She always did without so that her daughters could have everything we needed.

She raised me in a remodeled chicken coop and we visited the little house at the end of the path during the day. In the evening, porcelain containers were brought in from their airings and placed under the beds. It was in the front yard of this home that she picked peaches off the tree. One time she disturbed bees and they went up the leg of her shorts so she stripped down to nothing.

She canned apples, made applesauce and apple pies. She loved to play softball and volleyball and play BINGO!

Her mother lived to be 103 and that gave me such a false sense of security. I figured since she was so like her mother that she'd live to be 103 and quite possibly outlive me. That didn't happen. She died way before her time.

She waited for me to get there before slipping into a coma. I'll hold that memory close to my heart for the rest of my life.

She was all these things and more and anybody that knew her would have to agree. As I wrote this I smiled, and I laughed out loud at a few of the memories and I had to blink to release the tears that formed in my eyes. I miss you, Mom. Happy birthday - I just wish you were here so that we could sing and watch you blow out the candles just one more time.

What are YOUR memories and how would YOU describe The Babe?

Marianne Silvestro Drenik I sat on her stoop and ate Popsicles with her she taught me how to fish and I still have the pic of she and I together with my fish as she tried to hide her face
I have wonderful memories of Babe!

Alescia Kretschmer My gramma Daggett was the best! If it weren't for her and my mother, I wouldn't be the woman I am today. I love them both very, very much!

Alescia Kretschmer I have lots of memories. But, my favorite is kneeling on her davenport and watching the squirrels. Which I now do every single day. We have a tree directly across from our right, front room window and the same squirrel visits me every day. I always think of her when I see him.

Karla Mramor Your mom was precious...always so gentle and kind to me from the time I was a little girl. She'd watch me till my mom came home from work if I happened to get sick at school during the day...no sooner would I arrive than I'd already start feeling better, just being with her. Her laughter...her way of making anyone feel "at home" in her presence. I have such a vivid memory of being in her kitchen while she was getting dinner ready...the radio playing a Letterman song..."Never My Love" and her and I humming along:) She and my mom would talk on the phone for so long sometimes...and it must have been very important stuff because when I'd try to interrupt, my mom would merely make eye contact with the drawer that held the wooden spoon-I knew better than to bother her. After all, she was talking to her very best friend, Babe:) We both still miss her so much. Our lives were better because she shared some of hers with us:) sending love and hugs to you, Sue-always.

Nancy Fish I was very your when we spent time together, but I remember Aunt Babe as always laughing and happy! Now your mom and dad, and my mom, among other family members, are reunited and laughing together again! Miss them all!

Sue Daggett Kosec Karla, I'm so glad you saw this on FB because so many of the things I wrote involved "the Burkhardt's!!!" (Please share with your mother.) All of you were such an important part of her life for so many years. I don't know that she had another friend like your mother. I think they loved each other like sisters. And that she was with us at the end was just perfect - like it was supposed to happen. Our lives were better because of The Babe, I just know. Thanks for sending me your love and hugs ... it means a lot-always!

Karla Mramor Sue, I did share with my mom and she loved it! She misses your mom so much...we all do!!! We were in Cape Coral to get our hair done this morning and visited Annie's...a little restaurant your parents always went to when my mom and dad visited. Oh and the really wild thing that happened while we were getting our hair done was that the Letterman song I mentioned in my earlier post came on the radio! I never hear that song anymore. Felt like your mom was letting us know she was near:-)

Sue Daggett Kosec OMGosh, Karla! YES - she was there with you two. Just never know when/where The Babe will show up, do we? How ironic that the Letterman were singing YOUR song, too! Thanks for letting me know all this! Just one thing ... they never took ME to Annie's when I visited. Hrmph! Haha.

When you see the tag for June, you will notice that the two tags are similar.  That’s because I used the June theme for Father’s Day. Both tags, for example, have the envelope as well as a little card in the upper left corner that has to do with being in my heart.  Both tags, also, have a rub on that says “this makes me happy” because my mom (and dad) really did make our lives happy.