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| Mom & Me |
My mother, my mother told
me stories, sang me songs and read to me every day when I was little. She told stories about her life, her brothers
and sisters, her mother and father. She
read fairy tales and folktales from a set of books we called the Red Books
which were part of the deal when she purchased a set of encyclopedias when I
was about three or four. By the time I
needed to use an encyclopedia they were pretty much out of date, but I still
have the Red Books.
A few times when Mom told
us, my sisters and me, folktales and fairy tales she made up little songs to
put into the stories. The one I
especially remember is The Three Billy Goats Gruff and I use those little
ditties when I tell that story. I loved
listening to Mom tell and read stories.
I wanted to remember the stories she told; so I retold them to my
imaginary brother, his name was Bother, when he would come to visit me.
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| From http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/misc/stories/ |
I remember sitting in the
rock garden overlooking the valley that was next to our rural Ohio home. Brother lived in the Valley. When I called, “Brother, come up!” sometimes
he would be there, and I could practice telling Mom’s stories since he never
seemed to be around when she told them.
Brother was a good listener.
My grandpa was an engineer
for the gas company in Iowa. The family
moved a lot, and Mom told us stories about all the places she lived. One I particularly remember is about when she
and her older brother got in trouble for throwing crab apples at the
trolley. Her older brother taught her
how to play basketball. These were the
olden days, remember, and girls played by different rules in basketball than
boys did. They couldn’t cross the line
in the middle of the gym. But Mom
learned to play boys’ rules. Basketball
was a big deal in Iowa even back then.
Mom was on the Girls Basketball Team in High School. The whistle blew a lot when she was on the court
– every time she crossed that middle line!
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| Mom & Daddy |
As we got older, Mom’s
stories were sometimes about when she met my dad. It was a blind date, but they weren’t dating
each other. Daddy’s sister went to the
same Nursing School my mom did. She
volunteered her brother as a date for a dance.
Mom’s good friend did not have a date; so… The day after the double date, Daddy stepped
way out of his comfort zone and called Mom to see if he could take her
out. She said, “Yes,” and that was it.
Mom is gone from my life
now. It’s been a number of years. But those stories she told me, read to me,
and the songs she sang to me are still part of me. They always will be!
Happy Mother’s Day to my
very first storytelling mentor – MY MOM!
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