Eight years ago my mother died in her sleep when she went to bed on the night of November 11, 2014. I think of her all the time, yet as stores prepare for Christmas and I get in the festive spirit by putting up my outdoor Christmas lights while it is still sunny out, I miss her most of all. My mother would always help me put up the lights. I started baking shortbreads last Monday and made a second batch on Wednesday, for a total of seven tins. I must start my baking early, knowing the number of people who want Mom’s shortbreads. The Santa Claus Parade is next Sunday, November 20, and my mom and I would go down year after year to watch it in person. Thank goodness the parade is back on this year, running down its usual route with spectators welcome to watch it.
Here are some photos of her that are new to the blog, as well as some of us that I like:
My mother as a baby with a bottle, sometime in 1940
My maternal grandfather with my mother, at what must be Christmas 1941
Visiting the Grand Canyon
In Israel
When I lived in Finland during the summer of 2000, my mother visited me for two weeks and stayed in my small room. She had just woken up with the worst case of bed-head, and I couldn’t stop laughing. She was gracious to let me take her picture.
Christmas with Grant and Evelyn at Mom’s place in 2006, only one month after they got married
With Mark as we celebrated Mom’s seventieth birthday at Mandarin by throwing her a surprise party