Mothers' Day 2013

Mothers' Day--2013.  It has now been 11 years since my mother passed away just two days after my birthday--May 24th, 2002.  To say everyone in our family has missed her dearly is such an understatement--especially my dad.  I can't believe he has lived alone for that long.  He continually says he just doesn't like living alone--and I certainly don't blame him.  Our dear mother wasn't just a stay at home mother, she was the ultimate "home maker." 

 

Everything she did was for her family.  She was not only beautiful on the outside, but a beautiful woman within--strong in her faith and in her beliefs, with an undying love for her Savior and her family.

A few years ago, I visited the little home I grew up in from when I was five years old until I was a sophomore in high school.  This little home only had two bedrooms and one bath, with only one stove in the living room which tried to heat the entire house.

 With six children at the time, we slept four in one bunk bed, and two in a baby crib where they stayed until they were four and six years old!  These were the days when my dad was getting his law practice going, and then we started building a new home next door which took two years to build.

We didn't know we were poor and didn't have a lot at the time because the love we felt in that home for each other more than made up for what we didn't have.  For instance, with the one heater, there would literally be ice so built up on the windows in the bedroom, you could see your breath in the winter time.  Our grandkids love to go and see the house now. 

The grandkids were so excited to go inside.  They called it the "haunted house."  I thought that was so funny.

It was old when we moved in, but we fixed it up to be very comfortable.  Through the years, the floors have rotted, so yes, there is a hole in the floor.  This is the one bathroom in the house.  No, there were not two toilets.  Someone just set the other one in there after everyone moved out, I guess.  Many different family members and renters lived in it, but it hasn't had anyone in it for years.  Notice--just a tub, no shower.  That's the reason to this day I still love a bath--no shower for me!

The bedroom where four of us slept in a bunkbed until I was a sophomore in high school.  The bed was on the left, a full length freezer was on the right, and a dryer was on the end.  Barely enough room to walk down the middle to get to the little closet for six kids at the end on the right.  At one time, we put a portable hanging closet right down the middle of the room which we had to step around to get to the bed, but at least we had a little more space to hang clothes.

This is the kitchen.  We had a table on the right.  I remember when we won some little ducklings at the State Fair in September and had to keep them in a box in that kitchen until they were old enough to be put outside after the canal became unfrozen.  Wow!  Our mom was a good sport!

I believe this was a mouse carcass that the kids saw.  Yes, we provided all kinds of entertainment that day.

So, this is the house my mother drew out on a piece of paper and planned every square inch for us to move into.  The living room alone was longer than the house we just moved from.  My dad still lives here today.







My mother always had the most beautiful petunias growing in these planter boxes which she designed into the house.  She had ordered many flats of petunias even when she was close to dying because she wanted those petunias growing just like they had every year since we moved into the house in 1961.  However, she died before that happened.  It brought us to tears when we came home from the funeral and found all the flowers perfectly planted by the nursery people who did it in honor of our mother

So, for the last 11 years my dad continues to plant those petunias so that Mother won't ever have to have those planter boxes empty.  He does a great job and takes great pride in taking care of them!

He just had his 90th birthday and has continued to work at the law office to this day to keep himself busy and not have to just stay home without our mother.  It has been amazing!  He has received so many awards and accolades, we will soon not have enough wall space for them all!

My dad with the seven children of our family:  Natalie, Beth, Blair, Jerry, Joyce, Beverly, and Me.  We are arranged from youngest to oldest--I am the oldest, then it goes to the left from there.

A few days before Mothers' Day, George and I met with his two brothers and sisters and their spouses in Starke to have a little dinner together and talk about ancestors there.  We had a great time.  George and me, with Malcolm (Elda's husband) behind me, Elda (George's sister across from him), Sandy and Dwayne (George's brother and his wife).

For the Mothers' Day weekend, Kyle and Kim and their family came up to Jacksonville.  On Saturday, Kyle, Kim, and Carter went to the Players Golf Tournament.  George and I took Jenna and Brady downtown to The Landing.  They had never been there before, and we had such a great time together.

We watched them shine up a dinner cruise yacht . . .

and watched the water taxi.  It was just the perfect weather!

Over at The Landing, the little kids were playing in the water fountain.  George decided he would stay right there in the sunshine while we explored the rest of The Landing.

Probably one of the biggest gumball machines we've ever seen.  Brady had to try it out.

Watching them make cookies from the balcony above.

We went into a toy store and saw these most amazing blocks which light up when you connect them to the board.  They really were fascinating.

We picked up George and took a walk around the area.

But, we definitely had to stop at the ice cream counter--for Grandpa, oh I mean, for the kids.

A beautiful aquarium with all kinds of unique fish.

This fish was so unique--the stripe goes right across his eye!

A true rainbow colored fish.  (Sorry, I don't know their real names!)

This building has been around forever and needs someone to buy it because it is such a landmark.  When the Jaguars came in town, someone uniquely painted this in all the windows.  Very artistic and creative!

Then we had to take the kids to Park and Copeland Streets.  This street truly was named after the Copeland family!  (Honestly, Craig!  We told him Craig Road near Las Vegas was named after him when he was a little kid, kidding of course, but he believed it until he was in high school!  Sorry, Craig!)

This was the Mormon Church George attended when he was young and was actually baptized in.  It was always known as the Park and Copeland Chapel.  The Church sold it back in the 70s or 80s, I believe, but it has always had special memories for George and his family.

George told Brady that he had run along this little wall when he was young, so Brady tried it, too.  As we were going home and George kept pointing out places where he had gone and had so memories for when he was young, Brady remarked, "Grandpa, you had a really good life!"  Yes, he did!  A wonderful family and so many good memories!  That's what makes a life good!


On Sunday, Kyle and Kim and the kids went to church with us.  George and I had to speak.  It was an easy topic to talk about--wonderful mothers in our lives.  Afterwards, we all had dinner together.

This was a darling card that Brady designed and made for me.  I loved it!  Thank you, Brady!

I couldn't figure out what Carter was so busily doing just before we ate.  Brady had seen this and told Carter to make one for their mother, so Carter did it in about three minutes. 


So sweet!  A heart for his mother!

Thanks for coming, Kyle, Kim, Carter, Jenna, and Brady.  It was a great Mothers' Day--that along with hearing from the rest of the family.  That made my day (and special week) complete!