He gave mom a copy of the list he had created, but not the stories he had shared at the party as he paid her tribute and entertained those who came; thus I will share his list and my own examples as I can remember them.
70
Things I Love About My Mother
1.
She's always supported my career and seen just about every show I've done.
2.
She encouraged me to serve a mission.
3.
She loves me just for who I am.4. She loves to play games.
As I hadn't started my blog until the last year my mom lived in my childhood
house, I hadn't recorded much pre-dementia. Playing games with my family
was just a part of life - I thought all families did it.
Mom and dad had taught Patrick and me how to play a card game called 500 which
I mention here. We would play board games. I remember one time when
the power had gone out, we played a game called SKUNK; we played by Candle light. Even after daddy's health deteriorated,
we'd continue playing games. There was one called Encore which is a
singing game. Dad had had a series of strokes and it had become difficult
for him to get the words out of his mouth, but you could see him light up, and
he would think of a song, and it didn't matter which team's turn it was or how
long he took - we allowed him to provide an answer and would give it to
whatever team's turn it was to play.Mom didn't seem so competitive as a team player, but boy, she was competitive when it was player against player. Corey and I were her rivals. She would play all games with all people, but there were specifics that I talked about in this post.
5.
She's a worry-wart.
6.
We love to go to lunch together.
Mom enjoyed food and loved having the company of her children. More times than
not it would be just her and only one child. I remember her telling me
about going to the mall when Patrick was working at one of those gift cheese
stores. She would stop by and ask him to go to lunch and one day asked if
that embarrassed him as he was having lunch with his mom. He told her
that some of his co-workers were actually jealous about it. All of us
would always have good discussions with mom when we would go out to eat.
7.
She supported my educational pursuits.
Mom helped each of us with our education, but we all seemed to notice it the most with Kayla who really struggled in school. Her mind was much slower than any of mom's other children or Kayla's peers. She required extra attention for focusing and it did not help matters that the phone was always ringing off the hook as her friends would constantly call or come over. Thus mom removed Kayla from the neighborhood environment for a couple of hours each week, possibly every day . . I can't remember.
During the summer mom would take Kayla to a local drive-in for breakfast and
they would hang-out for the required time that mom had set up to help Kayla
understand whatever subject that Kayla was expected to understand. She
was so diligent in making sure that Kayla received a proper education. I
have always admired that
8.
She helped me get my first job.
As I had mentioned in this post: except for dad, all of my family had worked at
Snelgrove's Ice Cream Store - not at the same time, mind you. Patrick and
I had both started earning wages at age 13 or 14 with paper routes, but for
Kayla and Corey, Snelgroves was a first job.
9.
She instilled good work ethic in me.
10.
She instilled in me an appreciation of theatre and movies.11. She instilled in me an appreciation for reading.
Both my mom and Corey were avid readers. They could have three or four
books read before I had even completed one. I do enjoy reading. It
just takes me a lot longer.
Mom was reading books again while in assisted living. She could never
tell you what she was reading, but we do know she did read.
12. She read stories when I was young.
She also read to/with the grandkids
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