I am supposed to bury my 86-year-old mother today. She died last week, and I have been working with my siblings on funeral arrangements the past few days. Then I tested positive for COVID Monday morning. Sadly, my siblings will bury my mother without me today.
I have been thinking about the stories I planned to share with friends and family at the visitation and funeral. Since I can’t be there, I will share them with you. Maybe you will find a smile.
My mother loved the color red. It must have been the Irish in her from the Lane and Leonard families. She had two brothers who were known as Big Red and Little Red. Most of her clothes were red. She drove a red car. She even had red carpet in her living room. Seriously.
My mother loved to clean. It was more of an obsession than a habit, but she seemed to truly enjoy it. She vacuumed that red carpet every day. When she visited our home, she did the same with our non-red carpet, along with ironing our clothes, polishing our wood cabinets, and organizing our silverware drawer. She even washed our windows — inside and out. This was in her younger years, but she also found it fun to match up my lone socks just a few months ago.
My mother loved babies. When each of our three daughters were born, she was their first visitor — and she lived hours away. She had her bag packed and her gas tank full, waiting for the call. I have never seen her happier than when she was holding her grandchildren for the first time.
My mother loved the elderly. In her later years, she worked for families who needed someone to provide in-home care for their parents. She was so good at it that she had a waiting list. If you have had this need, you know how important a person with these skills is.
My mother loved to save money. We were not rich with material things by any means, but Mom made sure we had the necessities and plenty of gifts for birthdays and Christmas. She had bags of money that she would put a few dollars in each week to make sure she saved enough. Inside coffee cans. Under her mattress. In the freezer. She had her saving spots, and she was diligent about putting money away. She also never accumulated debt, other than her home mortgage. If she didn’t have cash to pay for something, she didn’t buy it, and that included cars. She said credit cards were the tools of the devil, and she proved that they were not necessary.
And finally, my mother loved ketchup. She ate it on everything. Eggs. Toast. Pizza. And to the chagrin of many a chef at restaurants we took her to, even on a good steak. Probably because it was red.
Rest in peace, Mom. I love you.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
