Where would we be without Mothers? Er, um…actually I don’t think we'd ‘be’ anywhere were it not for Mom. She’s the starch in every household. You’ve heard of a one man show? Well they were referring to her. A Mother. The all around multi-tasked person who can cook, clean, a nurse, gardener, chaperone, shuttle bus driver, and at times… be herself.
Because of Mom you learned to say your prayers and were warned not to cry too long or your face would freeze that way. Gulp!
Because of Mom we know we have eat our vegetables, after all, people are starving in China. Mom taught us important things like washing behind our ears and the absolute necessity to change our underwear regularly. Suppose you were involved in an accident?
Mothers know so much! And here's a few more saying we’ve heard from Mom.
Money doesn’t grow on trees.
When you have a house, you can make your own rules.
Close that door! Were you born in a barn?
Judas! Have you been in my purse again?
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
My favorite: If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?
I won't argue, Mothers are everything to every body. But here a few things you may not have known about some world famous Mothers.
Anna Mary Robertson- aka Grandma Moses, born 1860 in Greenwich, New York.
She married a farm worker Thomas S. Moses and gave birth to ten children. Anna discovered painting by accident while wallpapering her parlor. She ran out of the patterned paper and instead she painted a scene on a separate sheet of paper, then filled the gap with her art.
That particular painting is now hanging in the Bennington Museum in Vermont.
Anna won many awards and on her 100th birthday, the governor of New York, then Nelson Rockefeller proclaimed the day as Grandma Moses Day.
Her highest selling painting titled “Sugaring Off” sold in 2006 for a whopping 1.2 million dollars! And to this day the canvas painting “4th of July” that Anna painted for President Eisenhower still hangs in the White House.
Of course I have to mention Barbara Billingsley, better known as June Cleaver from the hit TV show Leave it to Beaver.
June and her husband Ward were the typical suburban parents of the 1950’s living in the beautiful town of Mayfield with their two sons, Wally (Wallance) and Theodore (the Beaver.)
But did you know that June has a sister, Peggy with an infant niece. June also has a spinster aunt named Martha Bronson who June claims to have raised her. Aunt Martha's 'old maid’ mindset drives Ward and the boys crazy whenever she comes to visit, which thankfully, is not very often. Aunt Martha tends to serve milktoast for breakfast and egg plant for dinner. She means well and actually gave Beaver an heirloom ring, which belonged to her brother, Theodore, whom the Beaver is named after.
Knowing about aunt Martha, it’s little wonder June tends to decorate in British upper class traditional. A Monet hangs on one wall while a Constable hangs in the livingroom.
And if June'a appearance is slightly stiff, it's probably because she was taught a formal curtsey by her aunt who often referred to their common Bronson linage.
It’s been rumored that June and Ward slept in twin beds while watching their small portable television set. Only on occasion, if she had a pressing errand that simply couldn’t wait, did she drive the Ford Fairlane,
To this day I use wax paper to wrap my sandwiches, cut corner to corner, in honor of June Cleaver.
Mothers all over will be showcased for their wonderful uniqueness they've brought to their family.
I’ll add mine to the collection.
Happy Mother's Day MOM!
