Life Is the Stories You Can Tell
  • Life is the Stories You Can Tell
  • Sing His Praises
  • My Creed
  • Books I Love
  • Christmas Letters

Women Who Have Mothered Me

5/10/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
An open womb doth not a mother make
But a heart that is opened for love’s sake.

Giving birth is not required
But love unfeigned to the child wild

Many are the women who have mothered me
On this blessed day, I honor thee.

Ø  Sister Hogan was our backdoor neighbor when I was a curly blonde, bright blue eyed, wildly spoiled pre-school child.  I knocked on her door almost every day and every day that I knocked, she invited me in.   Her toy drawer, cookie jar, and elderly arms were always open to me.

Ø  Mrs. Prengubber taught first grade at Young Elementary.   One day she gave me a pair of pants, pants that I wore proudly the next day to school.    Gently she took me aside and told me the pants were actually pajama bottoms.  (This in an era when pajamas were NOT worn in public. Ever.) Kindly she told no one else.  My secret (and my heart) was safe with her.

Ø  Sister Moffett was my BYU mom.  She and Brother Moffett (there is not one without the other) lived in Brigham City at the time.   On my way to Idaho to visit my parents, on my way back from Idaho after having visited my parents, and many, many times when I was not going to or coming from Idaho, I was in their living room, in their frig, and/or in one of their beds.   Once I arrived late, let myself in, and rolled out my sleeping bag on their front room floor.  I awoke the next morning to Brother Moffett gently lifting the edge of my bag, trying to figure out who was sleeping in his home.  I planned my trips to and through Brigham City so that I would arrive at meal time, knowing that Sister Moffett would offer to feed me.  Her food filled my stomach; her love filled my heart.

Ø  Aunt Beth mothered me the summers I worked Pioneer Trek.   College poor and poorly paid, she and Uncle Doug augmented my bank account by feeding and housing me and increased my confidence by completely embracing me.  

Ø  Early in our marriage Lance did something that seemed huge (but that I cannot even remember now…..) that hurt my feelings.    Sad and feeling lonely I fled to his mother for comfort.   From the first time we met, Dianne Hislop has treated me like a daughter.   Thank you Mom Hislop for accepting me and embracing me.

Ø  Later in our marriage, at a family gathering, burdened by concerns I felt were too heavy to carry, I quietly slipped away, knowing that I had to escape before my sobs became audible and planning to hide until I could pull myself back together.   Aunt Linda followed me and, in her kind and wise way, let me know that she cared.  Thinking about it brings tears to my eyes even now.  Hers was and is pure mothering.

Ø  Aunt Joanne, Aunt Wanda, Aunt Edie, Aunt Reta, Aunt Ethel, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Jean…..Thank you for accepting me, believing in me, and supporting me.   I hope to be to my nieces and nephews what you have been to me.

Ø  Marjorie mothers me in countless ways…..cooking for me on field trips, mailing me birthday presents 18 months in advance, sewing Easter and blessing dresses for my girls, providing transportation when my van blows up, giving support to me when I am  literally and figuratively weak in the knees…..Thank you, dear sister.   Thank you.

Ø  In a wonderful role reversal, my daughters mother me.   “Would you like to talk?” Tanah offers when she senses I am struggling.   Recently I was almost clotheslined as I staggered to the bathroom at 4:30 a.m., by duct tape strung across my bedroom doorway.  Attached to the tape was a loving message from Grace, accompanied by a flashlight and my glasses so that I could read the message.  A triple trail of nice notes dotted the floors; one leading up the stairs, one to the bathroom, and the third to the office.   I had gone to bed early the night before, collapsing, and she had stayed up late, creating.   What a blessing my mothering daughters are to me!

Ø  Mother, my Mother!    I honor you, I cherish you, I treasure you!   Thank you for taking me, an often whiney and generally spoiled young girl,  to feed the ducks, to check out books at the library, and to visit Mr. Jefferies.   Thanks to the childhood experiences you gave me, I still love ducks and rivers, I still haunt libraries, and I take my children to visit lonely widowers.   Thank you for countless encouraging notes, for enduring my tantrums when you taught me to sew, and for spending money you did not have to buy a new dress for me so that I could feel pretty when I went to BYU to interview for the Kimball Scholarship.   Thanks to you I write notes to (and receive notes from) to my children,  I patiently and empathetically endure Tanah’s fits when I am trying to teach her chemistry, and I spent money I did not want to to buy Tanah a prom dress because I remember how important it is to feel pretty.  I take Tanah’s forgotten homework to school because I remember how meaningful it was to me when you drove from Newdale to Sugar City (30 minutes each way) to bring me nylons when mine snagged on a chair in the science lab.    You have always loved me, Mother my Mother, and I will always love you.     Thank you.

Many are the women who have mothered me.
On this blessed day, I honor thee.

Love,
Teresa


Picture
Notice the flashlight, glasses, and love(ly) notes....
Picture
Three trails of notes diverged in an entry way; one up the stairs, one to the bathroom, and a third to the office.
Picture
Each note was written on scratch paper (so as not to waste trees) and had a message specially designed for me.
Picture
Tanah looks and (perhaps more importantly) feels pretty!
Picture
No blood!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Grace as the schoolmarm in SAA's production of "My Son Pinocchio, Jr." She also played a nagging mother and a pig/dog.
Picture
1 Comment
Jeanna
5/10/2015 08:10:32 am

Good job Mom. Tanah is beautiful!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.