My Mother's Life

Several years ago, my mother started writing her life's history.  She thought that everyone should share their past with their family.  She wrote something every week; sometimes it was her siblings birthdates and sometimes she wrote about her childhood.

After she passed away and we were cleaning out the house, we found the papers where she had written the information.  Some were in a notebook, some writings were on a scratch pad and some were in files on her computer.

I brought the papers home to organize and compile them in order.  As usual, my good intentions took a back seat to everyday life and the papers were stored in a box.  A few weeks ago, I got the box down from the attic.

Since my mom had not written down anything in chronological order, I had to read them and try to piece them together.  There were duplicates where she had written the same story over and over.  Even after throwing away some of them, the sheet of papers stretched into 2 rooms.

I have started to retype everything to make copies for my family.  It has been interesting to read what she did as a child.  2 stories in particular stuck out to me.

In the mid 1930s,  my mom was in the 4th grade and some women from a Bible college came to visit her school.  The college had a program where the students could memorize Bible verses and earn gifts.  The gifts included a booklet of the Gospel of John, a plaque and a Bible storybook.  Each week the students would come to school early and recite the scriptures to the teachers.  For learning 500 verses, anyone could go to summer camp for a week.  My mother practiced at home, learned the required Bible verses and she was able to attend the camp located in the N C mountains.  She wrote that camp was strict but she had a lot of fun doing crafts and swimming.  What stuck in her mind all those years later, were the lights she saw from the top of the mountain.  She had never seen sights like this before and it certainly made an impression on her.

When my mom was in the 8th grade, her school had a banquet one night.  Mom's family was poor and they lived out in the country.  The mother of a classmate made all of the arrangements for her daughter and my mother to get from their home to downtown Charlotte.  It was a very complicated time, catching a ride with a neighbor to his job, walking a few blocks, attending the dinner, riding a city bus back to the neighbor's job, then going home.  It made for a very long day and night.  When her older brother found out about the banquet, he took my mother to a shop in town and purchased a new outfit for her. She later said she had no idea how he paid for everything.  But she was very appreciative for everything that had been done for her to attend the dinner.

I have learned a lot about my mother's life.  I would recommend everyone write down things about their life, add pictures and keep it all together.  Share it with your family NOW so they can ask questions about things you have written.  Don't let your past be lost.