One more post about mom.
Above is the video that I put together as a tribute to mom’s life, we showed it at her service. I really wanted people to see the whole picture of who she was. Many times it seems that you only get to know people in certain contexts. For example I knew my mom as a mother, others knew her as the face of the Buyline - a newspaper where she worked for most her career. And others knew her as a sister, a hospital patient, a step-mother, a teacher, a friend, a grandmother, or a wife.
The amazing part about the process of putting together this slide show was the amount that I learned about my mother in the process. My family and I spent hours digging through the house going through old photos. We even found old photos and albums that none of us had ever seen. We found pictures from my mom’s parents, who had made an album devoted to their courtship and early family history. I also found that my mom had scrapbooked her entire high school experience - complete with student ID cards, report cards, dance pictures, dance programs and even her corsages from each dance. She had never shown any of us these albums before and they were so amazing to look at.
The first song on the slideshow, ‘Joy to the World’ was mom’s favorite song. Anytime you put it on, she was dancing. It was to this song that mom first taught me her signature move - the “mash potatoes.” Sometimes we even used this song to our benefit - perhaps one of us messed up and forgot to do a chore - blasting this song was a guaranteed way to end any form of mom being angry. Who could be upset while doing the mash potatoes to Three Dog Night? :)
I’d love to share this video with you so you can see a whole picture of my mom’s life. If you knew her, perhaps you’ll learn learn more about her you didn’t know. If you didn’t know her, maybe you’ll get a glimpse into her life. In addition to being ridiculously beautiful, she was quite the amazing woman.
