Well it's been a while since I posted about Mom, but there's not a day that goes by when I don't think about her. Mostly in the morning when I look in the mirror and see those wrinkles and lines and I think that I look more like her everyday. Especially when I put on lipstick. I hold my mouth the same way she did - I guess because I watched her often.
I found a snipet video yesterday that she made the last time that we were in Florida with Lisa and Kay. I also came across one she made when we were coming home from rehab just a week before she left us. I came across these notes, quickly jotted down during the last time we traveled to Chandler Springs together:
It was late one night and it was coming a storm. Momo woke us all up to head for the cellar, but Grace would not get up and refused to get out of bed. Lucille was crying and said "Mama, make her go!" Grace said she wasn't going, so Momo said, "Just leave her!". The storm passed and Grace was fine.
Also, Grace had curly hair when she was young and all the others had straight hair. She wanted straight hair so bad, that she hid under the porch and cut all her hair off because she wanted to be like every one else.
That's about all I have today, but the memories live on with me and are most precious.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Snipets
One year ago yesterday, my sweet mom left this world for glory. I shared this milestone day - the last of the firsts, with family - talking over old times, reminiscing, and sharing memory snipets of her and our family.
Dale remembered mom as a young teanager being assigned the job of babysitting Glenn, Larry and him. She and Odessa would pack a picnic lunch and take them out to the pasture. Dale remembers that Mom and Odessa would make them little bib overalls and pin them on them. He remembers the straps over the shoulders. He also remembered that once, when everyone was picking cotton, he wanted to pick too, so Mom made him a very small pick sack with a long strap. It was so small that it probably only held a few boles. I remember her telling the story that her siblings did the same for her.
We also talked about Momo and her love of fishing. We both remember digging worms in her yard for those times we got to tag along.
Sometimes I feel like John Boy Walton, with such wonderful memories of a child hood gone by, though not spent on Walton's Mountain, but in the safety of my beloved Chandler Springs.
I thank you all who remembered Mother and me yesterday both in person, in prayer and by mail. Her memories are precious reminders of what a treasure she was to us all.
Dale remembered mom as a young teanager being assigned the job of babysitting Glenn, Larry and him. She and Odessa would pack a picnic lunch and take them out to the pasture. Dale remembers that Mom and Odessa would make them little bib overalls and pin them on them. He remembers the straps over the shoulders. He also remembered that once, when everyone was picking cotton, he wanted to pick too, so Mom made him a very small pick sack with a long strap. It was so small that it probably only held a few boles. I remember her telling the story that her siblings did the same for her.
We also talked about Momo and her love of fishing. We both remember digging worms in her yard for those times we got to tag along.
Sometimes I feel like John Boy Walton, with such wonderful memories of a child hood gone by, though not spent on Walton's Mountain, but in the safety of my beloved Chandler Springs.
I thank you all who remembered Mother and me yesterday both in person, in prayer and by mail. Her memories are precious reminders of what a treasure she was to us all.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Courtship
After Mom graduated from high school in 1946, she enrolled in beauty school in Talladega. There she met a woman named Jewell Ellis who had a brother named Carl Cagle. Jewel wanted to introduce her to Carl and he had come by the beauty school once, but Mom was out to lunch. The woman that ran the beauty school had a shop in Sycamore where mom worked once she graduated. The Cagles lived next door to the beauty school. Mr. Cagle had built a building that had a grocery store on one side and the beauty shop on the other. Mom finally met dad when he came by the beauty shop to tell her about Jewel's son Colin had arrived. Colin was born on May 2, 1947. Dad and his friend Ralph Britton were riding when he motorcycles and he and mom got to talking. Dad came out to Chandler Springs to meet her family. He was about to go to Oklahoma to work with his brother Verdo, but was so distracted because he had fell in love with mom that His sister -in -law told him he should go back to Alabama and marry that girl. So he did. Mom didn't think he would come back. She was excited to see him. Mom and Dad were sitting on the porch talking to Momo and when Momo got up to go in the house, dad followed her and ask for mom's hand. They were married on August 10, 1947.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
1st Anniversary
My Mom and Dad were married 67 years ago August 10, 1947. While going through Mom's things yesterday, I found a letter my Dad had written to her on their first anniversary. He was finishing bookkeeping school in Birmingham and she was at home in Chandler Springs. I had read this letter many times throughout my life, but it was especially sweet to read yesterday. I am thankful to have had the wonderful example of a loving couple, who made it through the hard times together and always looked to God for their strength. Their lives are a great legacy which I will always treasure.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
She Flew Away
Psalm 90:10 and 12
"The days of our lives are 70 years and if by strength 80, their boast is only labor and sorrow, for soon we are cut off and we fly away. So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
My Mother was a wise woman. If there is one thing she taught me by her example was to find good in every situation. So in her passing, I take comfort in this wisdom.
Mom was a woman of faith who lived a simple life facing many challenges (even on her last day) with grace and humility - giving thanks to God in the good and the bad and always with a joyful heart.
She loved her family and friends and treasured every card, every picture, every small act of kindness shown to her. She loved watching her family grow up and embraced email, Facebook and Blogs to virtually watch when her visiting days were few. She loved sending and receiving cards - the "old fashioned" way of letting someone know you care.
She had a giving heart and always considered herself fortunate enough to share. This is a legacy passed down from her mom and siblings and one she passed on to me.
She was a saver - every quarter, every dollar she could "stick back" she did. Her favorite hiding place was behind the pictures of those she loved. And it wasn't just money she saved - it was plastic bags, small containers, stamps, rocks and anything to do with sewing. She was sentimental and treasured even the smallest gift.
She was a crafter and an artist - clothing not only herself, but me, my dolls and many others. The work of her hands creating a small coat from a grandmother's old one because times were hard and her young daughter needed to stay warm. My childhood memories are filled with fabric and thread and beautiful easter dresses and barbie doll clothes all created by through the whirr of her Singer. As an entrepreneur, she created custom handbags through which she financed her first trip to Alaska. We made Christmas decorations, countless pans of chocolate fudge and even our own doughnuts made from "good 'ol biscuits in a can."
She loved music - music of all kinds - playing and singing from a very young age. Music was a way of life for her. She was an avid reader and had adapted to the new e-books which allowed her failing eyesight to continue her passion.
She faced every challenge, every adversity with a positive outlook. I never remember her being at odds with anyone except her husband and her teenage daughter - which never lasted very long.
She was very loving and forgiving. She received her wayward daughter into her arms without being judgemental. She was truly a picture of God's unmerited favor and unfailing love.
She has taught me so many lessons and will continue to do so as I ponder her life with awe and amazement. She was an exceptional woman - beautiful and wise - and I will miss her dearly.
"The days of our lives are 70 years and if by strength 80, their boast is only labor and sorrow, for soon we are cut off and we fly away. So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
My Mother was a wise woman. If there is one thing she taught me by her example was to find good in every situation. So in her passing, I take comfort in this wisdom.
Mom was a woman of faith who lived a simple life facing many challenges (even on her last day) with grace and humility - giving thanks to God in the good and the bad and always with a joyful heart.
She loved her family and friends and treasured every card, every picture, every small act of kindness shown to her. She loved watching her family grow up and embraced email, Facebook and Blogs to virtually watch when her visiting days were few. She loved sending and receiving cards - the "old fashioned" way of letting someone know you care.
She had a giving heart and always considered herself fortunate enough to share. This is a legacy passed down from her mom and siblings and one she passed on to me.
She was a saver - every quarter, every dollar she could "stick back" she did. Her favorite hiding place was behind the pictures of those she loved. And it wasn't just money she saved - it was plastic bags, small containers, stamps, rocks and anything to do with sewing. She was sentimental and treasured even the smallest gift.
She was a crafter and an artist - clothing not only herself, but me, my dolls and many others. The work of her hands creating a small coat from a grandmother's old one because times were hard and her young daughter needed to stay warm. My childhood memories are filled with fabric and thread and beautiful easter dresses and barbie doll clothes all created by through the whirr of her Singer. As an entrepreneur, she created custom handbags through which she financed her first trip to Alaska. We made Christmas decorations, countless pans of chocolate fudge and even our own doughnuts made from "good 'ol biscuits in a can."
She loved music - music of all kinds - playing and singing from a very young age. Music was a way of life for her. She was an avid reader and had adapted to the new e-books which allowed her failing eyesight to continue her passion.
She faced every challenge, every adversity with a positive outlook. I never remember her being at odds with anyone except her husband and her teenage daughter - which never lasted very long.
She was very loving and forgiving. She received her wayward daughter into her arms without being judgemental. She was truly a picture of God's unmerited favor and unfailing love.
She has taught me so many lessons and will continue to do so as I ponder her life with awe and amazement. She was an exceptional woman - beautiful and wise - and I will miss her dearly.
Eva Laverne Powers Cagle
12/3/1927 - 7/24/2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Squirrel hunting
Mom went squirrel hunting one time when she was about 16 or 17. It only took one shot to bag her first one. She brought it back to the store where Mr Brewer said "I only heard one shot". To which mom replied "I only needed one" and she held up the squirrel. She felt so bad for killing the poor thing she never went hunting again.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Fiddler's Convention
Mom and Archie Brewer were best friends growing up. She always thought of him as a brother. They sang together as often as they could. They went to a fiddlers convention in Millerville (about 1944). The convention didn't have a classification for duets but they let them play anyway. Archie played "Steel Guitar Rag" on the mandolin and it brought the house down. They were awarded a dollar each. They punched each other and laughed all the way home because they couldn't believe they received money! The next year mom received an invitation to come back and perform, but Archie was already in Germany in the war.
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