Mother’s Day – I Remember Mama

Posted On May 9, 2021

From Kh. Dannie

Dear Sisters,

Happy Mother’s Day!

Whether a mother, by giving physical birth, by having adopted children, by being a godparent, by teaching children, by caring for those in situations who needed a mother’s love, we have all touched a child’s life.

Mother’s Day blessings to all of you.

Now, a few more words …. Today, sit down with pen and paper and write about the pleasant times with your mother, whether she is still here on this earth or has gone to be with God. You will remember some immediately and some will surface later.

We know that in all families there are happy, pleasant times and then there are very difficult times. Today, focus on the pleasant times.

In my life, thinking of the pleasant times has diminished the difficult times. God was there and has given His grace and mercy. We are where we are today because God has taken care of us and now, we are able to help others in their difficult times.

All this to say, write pleasant things about your mother today. Save the words for you to read often and for your children to read. One day, they will write kind words about you.

Memories can be kept in the heart; memories can be verbalized; memories written on paper about your mother are a gift from God to you to remember those pleasant times.

The following is an article I wrote to the Antiochian Women in 2019. These are a few simple words about how I remember my mother (Mama).

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A couple of years ago, one of my daughters gave me a movie. It is a 1948 film, “I Remember Mama” starring Irene Dunne. Hope you will purchase and watch it.

What I remember about my mama are her gentle ways and a heart of kindness that reached all people.

She had three sisters and six brothers. Her father was a medical doctor in a small community in the panhandle of Florida. Her mother raised children and was the keeper of the home. Both of her parents were born in the late 1800’s. Mama was born in 1920.

In the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s, she and my dad owned a “boarding house” inherited from his father. We called it “The Hotel”. It was a big two-story house on the “Old Spanish Trail” – the highway that went across North Florida extending from St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California.

Here is where my mother placed within my heart how to love others and to always show kindness.

For most of the time we lived there, the Jim Woodruff Dam was being built on the Chattahoochee River. Many families and single men came from all over the USA to live with us and to work on the dam. An older gentleman from Austria on a business trip came for a few days. My mother, to our surprise, let him teach us to waltz! We had many interesting people pass our way.

In the morning, my mother prepared lunches for the single men. In the evenings, we sat around a big, round table with “our guests”. The conversation was about the day at the Dam and how much they enjoyed my mother’s home cooking.

Even though she had others to help clean those many rooms, she would always help with the chores.

In the afternoons, many of us gathered on the side lawn with the thick St. Augustine grass beneath our feet. We played softball, croquet and caught fireflies. My mother was always close by, talking with her friends.

The “guests” became our friends.

The “help” became our friends.

We were their friends.

We were happy being together.

My dear mother, Ann Ethel, departed this life when she was 57 years old. By that time, my Dad had died, and she was a secretary at a nearby hospital. She lived alone but had many friends and we visited her often. She always came to stay with us when a baby was born. She cleaned my house and cooked our meals. With her beautiful hands, she bathed my babies and sang as she rocked them to sleep.

In my thoughts, I still see her beautiful hands as she served others.

From a distance, I hear her singing on Sunday mornings in the small Methodist church.

In my heart is the remembrance of how she loved all people and made sure those with us at “The Hotel” had clean sheets, delicious food and felt at home.

Glory to God for her life of serving others.

Now, I am nearing the age of 80 and “I Remember Mama”.

Kh. Dannie