Moma~~~

Dorothy

This is my Moma-I don't know when the photo was taken but my guess is she was about 18 yrs old, give or take a year or two.  I never had seen this photo until she had already passed and it was displayed at the Family Viewing time, one day before the funeral.  It took my breath away-all I could do was cry as I looked at a young woman, full of anticipation as to how her life would be!  She had told me at different times as the "golden years" had arrived-"Make sure there is a Young Photo of Me at my Funeral-don't want people seeing how Old I look" 

I promised to honor her request but had no idea as to where there might be a young photo of her, and it was my sister (six years younger than me) who located this photo and made sure it was displayed for everyone to admire as they walked in to pay their final respects to this "one of a kind woman!"

Life was hard for Moma-living on a farm demands every child out in the fields, helping to bring in crops-working with the farm animals, simply put- whatever needed to be done, You did it, no questions asked.

She lived through the Depression Years and I recall watching her one day as she ate, making sure there was Nothing left on her plate, not a crumb, Nothing!  I guess she sensed my intense observation of her as she raised up from the plate, asking "What the Heck are you looking at girl?"  Suddenly I couldn't find the proper words to explain, and jumped in with "Why in the world do you Eat like that Moma?"

Before the last word left my mouth, I knew this would not be pretty- as Moma would say "Well you just stepped into a big mess of Dog Poop!"  I didn't feel my question was out of place- but to her, I had opened my mouth and stepped into a messy area!  She put her fork down, moved her plate away, never losing the intense Glare being cast my way-as I prayed for some Divine Intervention to appear, maybe Daddy would jump in and save me from the verbal lashing coming my way!  Instead he sat with a slight Grin on his face, not a word said, but it felt like he wanted to whisper 

 "Sister, you might as well brace yourself, there is no place to Hide!"

I drew a deep breath and tried to prepare myself but when Moma got worked up about something, you might as well just take it-unless you had really Fast legs and could run like the Wind!  She leaned in toward me, wanting to be sure I didn't miss a single word and here it came:

"Well Daughter, you Never had to live through a Depression-there is always Food on this table, I don't care if you like the food, but by Golly, its there!  I grew up during a time when Food was hard to find-I mean HARD to Find!  When we were lucky to get a chance to eat, you made sure there was Nothing left on your Plate-not a Drop of Food left!  My God, there are Starving People all over this World-but you don't understand-I am going to get a box and put All this Food in it and Mail it to a Country where people are begging for food!  Yep, thats exactly what I am gonna do!  So Don't Ever ask me again as to Why I clean my Plate-Are we clear on this?"

"Yes Moma, I will never ask that question again, and I am sorry for what you had to go through during the Depression!"  Daddy had leaned back in his chair, relaxing after the verbal slaughter of his daughter, thinking everything was done and our meal could continue.  Suddenly Moma had jumped up from the table to find a Box, just as fast she was back, box in hand, her eyes glued in my direction as she took dishes of food from our table and put them in the box!

Words came flying out of me "Moma-you just took Our Food and dumped it in that Box! It will all spoil before any country could get it by mail!"  Now Daddy was a wise man, he had risen quickly from the table, knowing it was best to just stand back and see how this conversation between Mother and Daughter would end- of course I was now silently praying, hoping Moma might still be hungry and realize our dinner had just landed in a box!  

Her answer was priceless- "Daughter, you are Right-that dang Post Office is slower than Molasses when it comes to mailing anything!  Guess we can find some canned goods to mail- Is anybody still hungry?"

This was my Moma-I believe she knew exactly what my reaction would be as I saw our Meal being dumped into a box-I learned vital lessons-the lingering effects on people who did live through the Depression and countless people living in far away countries, who could only dream of having a meal like we were blessed to have.  

I will never forget her lessons, and how she lived her life, closing each night with Bible in hand, asking God to watch over her family.  

thanks for letting me share this story.

God bless-martha