Sunday is Mother's Day

We honor our mothers this week. This, of course, is something we should do all year long.

I was born at the beginning of the Great Depression. My mother was a depression mother, the kind that is made of kindness and steel. She was the rock of the family. During the 1930s jobs were scarce. My father often had to work out of town and returned home for the weekends. I remember he worked one full year at Moses Lake.

The depression is what brought my parents and siblings to Palouse. My father, who was born in Palouse, was discharged out of the army in Minneapolis. That’s where he met my mother. My father was a boss in a pump factory when the depression hit. His job ended. His brother Ralph farmed near Palouse, and he told my parents that there was an empty house on the farm and that they could come to Palouse and live there. He said there was milk, meat, vegetables and fruit available and the family could get by while my dad looked for work.

My mother was an only child, and her mother lived with them. My mother was born into a middle-class family. Her mother was from Norway and her father from Denmark. She was born in Minneapolis, so she gave up a lot to make the long drive west. I was born the next fall.

My mother was a city girl and the transplant to a small village wasn’t easy. She never complained, at least not ever to me. She learned to can while in Palouse and annually put up scores of jars of food.

There were five kids in my family, largely raised by Mother. Her mother died in 1937. So from that point on she was a stranger in a small town filled with people who had known each other for years.

My mother always found a way to feed and clothe the family, only going to work when I was about out of high school. That’s one of the many reasons why we honor them on a special day.

My dad was always in the picture, but worked out of town during most of the 30s.

My father worked in a logging camp in the very late 30s and broke his leg when a log rolled over him.

My mother was in charge and had a more difficult task.

But love always prevails. Mothers do that.

We are blessed with loving and kind mothers.

Remember yours Sunday and always.