Women

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I Remember Mama
© 2007

by

Stephen A. Peterson


In the philosophy of many of humankind’s thinkers, God did not put humanity on the planet earth to be a species of sourpusses. They believe fervently that the Almighty desired people to enjoy all He placed before them and living life to its fullest no matter how much time was given be it a short life or a long one.

My mother knew this, I believe, better than anyone I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Mom was a great teacher, role model and companion to her 17 children. As her eldest child, I cannot every remember her being to busy, too tired or too sick to listen to a problem, read a story, defend our honors at school and in the public forum when we earned them or come down on us when we failed to do what we were supposed to do.

On a cold winter Sunday morning, I and two of my brother were up that day to go to 6:00 AM at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral roughly 2 miles from our house. While the rest of the family slept, we slipped out of the house via the side door to a waiting car still not warm car. With myself occupying the front seat, Gregory and Robert the back seat, the car crept slowly from its backyard parking area north on the alley for a block, west on 30th street for 3 blocks, then south on Meridian for roughly 18 blocks to the church parking lot.

As the old car struggled towards the church, Robert and Gregory sat quietly seemingly waiting for the heat to arrive at the back seat where they huddled. Suddenly Robert, the comedian of the family spoke up, “Say mom that’s the weirdest stocking hat I’ve ever seen. The color is ugly. It smashes your hair down so that it all comes out looking look a bunch of pretzels. It doesn’t look very good mom. It looks kinda dumb, too!”

“So you don’t like my stocking cap, huh!” mom responded.

“Nope!” Robert said without hesitation.

Mom smiled as we drove through ever increasing amounts of snow on the windshield. But without another word, mom lowered the driver side window, quickly took of the stocking cap then tossed it out the window.

“Whoa!” we all exclaimed in utter amazement turning to watch the hat of many color elevate up and down in the winter wind. Awe quickly turned to laughter by one and all.

“No more being weird,” Mom said. “And to celebrate this new coming out, we’ll go to White Castle’s after Mass for hot chocolate and a Danish for everyone. How about that?”

Crazy? You bet it was crazy. And with a doubt, mom’s hat tossing probably broke some litter law. But years following this momentous event, it, at the time, was funny. Mom later admitted, she had planned to get rid of the stocking cap for something warmer and more appropriate to fit the coat she was wearing.

What a great and wonderful childhood with many positive life experiences mom gave her children, built on a belief in an Almighty God, with a foundation of unconditional love, loyalty to country and family—and a great deal of humor and laughter. For she would say, “Heaven is not for sourpusses but person of faith, happiness and joy!”

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