My mother, Ellen, died suddenly at 85, 13 years ago this evening. It was a sudden and massive heart attack. Older age might not have been as easy for her as it was for her mother, Nora, who had a very different temperament and lived until 96. My mother left this world still driving, living in her own home, but longing for my father who died too early, when he had so much still to do, to enjoy, in 1998. Those 9 years without her Ralph were so very difficult for her.
My mother, an only child, graduated from Wheelock College, now part of Boston University in 1943 with a B.S. Degree in Early Childhood Education and taught first grade for years. She was a fabulous cook, collector of primitive antiques, a lover of books and family history. She was totally devoted to my dad, her eternal dance partner, her family and grandchildren. She would have loved Nora Jo and Hunter so very much.
The collage photos picture my mother as a toddler, Nora Jo has that rocker now, my mother and me at the end of Clark's Point(the spit of land where her dad was born) in Machiasport Maine circa 1966, a shot in the restaurant where we celebrated her 85th birthday and looking at a book one Christmas morning at my brother and sister-in law's house through the woods from her own.
We didn't realize my mother had left us until the next morning in 2007, which happened to be Raspberry's 1st Birthday. Now both she and our beloved Abyssinian cat Raspberry are gone, but with us always in spirit. On his death bed my dad told my mother, "Be Brave", something we are all embracing now.
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
