The Other Mother

If course I am remembering my precious mother today. What a blessing to have had her love, wisdom, kindness, and care for so many years. She taught me so much. She died in 2009, and I miss her very much.

But there was another mother who had an incredible impact on my life. Her name was Minnie.

After her fourth child was born, Minnie probably thought she was done raising kids, but then 7 years later, Richard arrived. I worked with Minnie at the library the summer after I graduated from high school. Richard had just been discharged from the Army and was living with them until his college classes started in the Fall. He came into the library to see her and asked her to introduce us. She did. She was gentle and kind, sweet. She loved to talk, and she had a great sense of humor. Some mothers resent the woman their son marries. But when we got married 4 years later, I believe she was very happy for us. We didn’t see her much after that because she and Richard’s dad moved to Texas and lived with a son there.

Some problem developed and she came back to California for a while and stayed with her daughter, who lived in Huntington Beach, and she spent a weekend with us, which was when this picture was taken in 1977.

She died in Texas in 1982.