There is really so much I would like to tell you about my mom. Most of you who knew her, knew her to be a no nonsense, speak your mind, stubborn kind of person, and I would have to somewhat agree, however, the driving force beneath all of that was an unconditional love beyond measure.
Soon after mom was diagnosed with cancer, it occurred to me that I really didn’t know much about her. I didn’t know her favorite color, or her favorite flower, or her favorite song. So, I started asking questions about her life and I want to share with you part of her story.
Mom was born here, in Jeff Davis Hospital on July 4, 1933 to Jewel and Elmer Herron. She had only 1 sibling, an older brother. My grandmother divorced my grandfather when mom was 3 years old; he was an alcoholic and grandma was a strict, down-home southern Baptist and was not tolerant of such behavior. From the time she could walk, she was always into something, always in some sort of trouble and always driving my grandmother crazy.
In the ‘30s and early ‘40s it wasn’t uncommon for a struggling family to leave one or more of their children with either a relative or a good friend of the family while looking for work. Mom was the chosen child. It was her belief that she held this title because of her behavior and it was for that reason grandma always chose to leave her instead of her brother. Shocking as that was, I was saddened to hear mom tell me of a time she remembered staying with her aunt for about a year and she saw grandma only 1 time and that was when she came to pick her up. I couldn’t help but think, as a mother, how hard it must have been to have to leave your child behind, but thinking as a child, how much it must have hurt to be left behind.
Growing up, mom learned to play the accordion, a 1940 Berlin Bass. Grandma worked hard to save the $400 to purchase the accordion and pay for lessons; mom couldn’t express to me enough her appreciation for grandma and her hard work. As a young adolescent, it was mom’s desire to be a nurse; however, she knew this would be nothing more than a dream because they did not have the money to send her to college. In any event, her education was cut short. At the beginning of the 10th grade, mom was expelled from school for punching a classmate in the face causing the young lady to tumble down a flight of stairs, knocking her two front teeth out. Of course, there is more to that story, but that is the highlight and I’m just going to leave it there because I think that is just too funny!
Mom and daddy met while working at a grocery store, Hincke & Peilot; daddy worked in the meat department and mom worked in the bakery. They dated only 4 or 5 months before daddy proposed, and they were married on September 2, 1949.
When it came to children, mom and daddy shared the same feelings and ideas of what having a family meant. Daddy wanted a bunch of kids and mom wanted nothing more than to make daddy happy. There were 4 kids born between 1950 and 1970. Kelly, Tommy, me (Susie) and Stacey. I’m sure there would have been more of us, but daddy’s life was cut short, on July 17, 1977, he lost his battle with cancer at the age of 47.
Now, mom just lost the love of her life after only 28 years of marriage and she was left with 2 young girls to raise, I was 13 and Stacey was 7. She knew she had to finish what they started and she went onto raise me and Stacey; she was a single mom who loved only one man and it was not in her to just give up and not finish what they started because family was most important.
Well, the last question I had for mom was probably the hardest, I asked her if she was afraid of dying. Her answer was no surprise, “no,” she said “I have been lucky, I was married to the greatest man that ever lived, I have seen my kids grow up, I’ve seen my grandkids and some great-grandkids; it can’t get any better than that.”
You know, when I look back at the life my mom lived, all the really, really tough times she went through, I feel such a sense of pride and admiration for a woman who truly loved her family and friends.
So yes, I would have to agree, mom was a no-nonsense, speak your mind, stubborn kind of person, but, as I hope you can see, there was so much more to her. She was strong. She was loving. She was forgiving.
She is my mom.
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