Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mother's birthday.  I can think of a lot of things to write about her but I picked one subject that I felt described her perfectly.

When I was around 10 years old, my mother and aunt had just started taking a sewing class at the local community college.  My mother bought a sewing machine and could really make that machine hum.  Around that time, I started going to church with a friend.  Since I had not previously attended church, I had a limited amount of dresses.  My mom, knowing that I would want to have nice things like the other girls at the church, started making my dress clothes.  She would buy a pattern that had 3-4 different styles of dresses and a variety of cloth.  She could make a short sleeved dress out of a solid color material with a polka dot color jacket.  The extra polka dot material was used to make a skirt or jumper.  She could always find cloth on sale at different stores and use the same pattern over and over again.  For 3-4 years I had dresses that were as nice or nicer than you could buy in a store. 

When my mom passed away and we were cleaning out my parents house, we found her big sewing hamper.  Inside were remnants of cloth that she had used over the years.  Included was material that had been used to make my dresses for Easter, church camp and other special occasions.  I cut a 1 inch square from each piece to bring home with me.  I really didn't need to keep any of it, I can still see some of these dresses in my mind when I think about those days.   But when I see this small stack of cloth, I am reminded of the time and sacrifices that my mom made for me. 

Happy Birthday momma.