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Posts tagged ‘mom’

All About Mom

She was witty
She was strong
She worked hard
All day long

She was cranky
She was smart
She always finished
Whatever she’d start

She was pretty
She was neat
She was clever
But not too sweet

She was never
Without an opinion
Expressing ideas
Was her dominion

She loved Lodge
And organization
Any laziness
Was her frustration

She loved poetry
And crooning songs
Her eye was tuned
To finding wrongs

She loved her girls
With all her heart
I know that more
Now that we’re apart

She always boasted
Behind our back
Whatever we needed
We’d never lack

She was a guide
She was no saint
A perfect mom
No, that she ain’t

But would I trade her
For another mother?
My heavens, NO!
I want no other

MOM!!


If you were to write a poem
or sing a song about your mom,
what would you have to say?

Here’s a beautiful tribute
to a mom from her three sons.
I love it! I dedicate it to my
dear children, Ty (his wife, Monika) & De,
and to my other daughter, Laina.
Thank you for being such great parents!!

Happy Mother’s Day
to all my blogging friends.

I hope your day is wonderful!

Love,
JanBeek

Embrace Mothers

Me n Mom

Happy Mother’s Day to our moms!
Whether they are alive or dead,
They live daily in our thoughts –
Either lovingly or with dread.

Some folks weren’t as lucky
As I feel I was born to be.
I had a strong-willed mother
Who passed her strength on down to me.

Mom & Dad

Mom moved from her home in Washington
To marry my handsome Italian dad.
She spent her life in central California.
Musta made her mother rather sad.

Mom raised me and my sis, Sally,
To learn to stand on our own two feet.
From day one we were taught to know
School wasn’t done ’til college was complete.

She was born fifth of six children –
And her dad died when she was a teen.
College wasn’t an option for her, but for sure
Her girls would experience that scene!


Sally, Dad, Mom & me

Sally went to Jr. College and Brigham Young.
I graduated from University of Pacific (UOP).
Mom was pleased as punch to know –
If I needed to, I could take care of me!

She and Dad were great supporters
Of Bob & me their whole lives through.
I couldn’t have asked for better folks.
I hope you can say the same about you.

Dad Mom, Bob & me
That’s me with Mom, Sally & our daughter, De –
behind us is Dave Butters,
Sally’s husband who died way too young.
Mom’s selfie

Mom took selfies with a smile
Long before digital cameras and internet.
If she was alive today, she’d post ’em daily
And she’d have a huge following – you bet!

Today’s the day for us to remember
Our moms – and conjure up some joy
As we recall their better selves –
and set aside all thoughts that annoy!

I must remember no one’s perfect,
And I just hope when I’m dead and gone,
Our children will recall my better self,
And set aside times I was a moron!

I hope my kids will say,
“My mom was the Bee’s Knees”
and laugh at any bitterness
while remembering only the honey!

Happy Mother’s Day!
Embrace your Mothers today
(for real – or in your memories).
They did (or are doing) the best they could!!

Love,
JanBeek

Mom’s Messages

Hopefully if you click on the title of this post, it will take you to the blog I wrote on Mother’s Day 9 years ago. I would love to hear more responses to the question: What messages did your mom leave with you?

I had a very bright, take charge kind of mom. She was a talented “elocutionist.” Is there such a word? She loved public speaking and told me she took “Elocution Lessons” when she was in her teens. She gave readings set to music for her various lodges (Rebekahs and Eastern Star).

My mom was my biggest fan. Always encouraging me to do my best – and to develop the talents God gave me. She never missed a concert or other event in which I was performing.

How about your mom? What remembrances of her fill your heart with gratitude on this 2021 Mothers’ Day? What messages from her stick with you?

Life is Like a Teeter-Totter

Image

Remembering Back

I first posted this poem back in 2012 on this JanBeek blog. I have revived it today because most of you were not my followers to see this back 8 years ago!

In 1991 I wrote a poem for my mom to wish her a Happy Birthday. With the framed poem, I gave her the ceramic teeter-totter you see pictured above.

The piece is a wind-up music box that plays “Playmates” as the little mice go up and down. She always had the poem and music box with her the next fourteen years as she was in and out of hospitals, rehab facilities, and nursing homes. When she died, I inherited them – and I treasure the memories they bring to mind.

Mom’s Cousin

My mom had a cousin close to her age, Madge Pickering, who lived with mom’s family when she was a child. Eventually Madge married and moved into a home of her own. She and her husband had two sons, Ronnie & Donnie.

Mom married and moved to California where my sister and I were born. I loved meeting and spending time with my cousins when we would go to spend Christmas vacation back in Washington with Mom’s family.

Stayin’ in and Losin’ Touch

Through the years I have stayed in touch with the older of those two cousins, Ronnie. He is near my age. However, I had lost touch with Ronnie’s little brother, Donnie, until a Saturday about a decade ago. Found out Donnie also lives here in Montana now!

Donnie, whom I had not seen in 60 years, and his wife, Patti, came to spend Labor Day weekend with Bob and me about ten years ago. What a treat! We reminisced and told stories and went through family photos and various family “artifacts.”

One of my inherited treasures is a letter written on the occasion of our mutual great-grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. They were married September 1, 1875. The letter is “A Saga of the Valley” – the valley in and around North Bend and Fall City, Washington where my mother and Donnie’s mom were born and raised. The letter was typed on onion skin, is brittle and faded, and hard to read – but is is legible.

I retyped it and sent it to my newly reacquainted cousin, Donnie. I trust he shared it with his daughter who is into the study of genealogies.

Treasuring Memories

As I was headed into the office to my computer, I spotted the ceramic teeter-totter music box. I realized I had forgotten to share that artifact with Donnie. His mom, like mine, was a devoted mother who was wonderfully supportive of her two sons. I hope he appreciated this funky little poem. I didn’t hear back from him. But, now – a decade later, it is more true than ever… and I know he will concur:

Life is Like a Teeter-Totter!

Life is like a teeter-totter –
Full of ups and downs.
Kids learn to roll and toss with it,
To shake away the frowns,
If they have a loving home
To lean back and reminisce on when they roam.

Life is like a teeter-totter –
Full of bounces and of bumps.
Kids learn to rock with a jolly jump
And shake away the lumps
If they have a loving mother
To hug them tight and with kisses smother.

Life is like a teeter-totter –
It works better in pairs,
They keep each other balanced
And handle love in shares
If they have had their mother’s arms
To guard against abuse and harms.

Life is like a teeter-totter –
Full of laugh and silly giggle.
Full of noise and wonderment –
Girls to squeeze and boys that wiggle –
If they have been secure in love
Both from home’s hearth and God above.

Thank you, Mom, for filling my life
With love… more ups than downs, for sure.
You seemed to know my every need;
For every hurt you had a cure.
Happy Birthday, Mother dear –
I thank God each day that you are near!

God Bless our Moms!!

Mom, me, Dad, and my sis, Sally
(Hah, some things never change…
I wore that necklace with a new blouse just yesterday)

I hope you have had a Memorable Mother’s Day.
What memories do you treasure of your mom??
JanBeek ;o)

Add a Tsp. of Kindness

Welcome to Day #11 in the A-Z series,
“Add Meaning and Purpose to Life”

Today’s letter is “K”
The word is
Kindness

img_0129

Here is my prayer for today,

“Lord, teach me to love
with compassion.
Let me pass no one
without a KIND word,
thought, or deed.”

I have that poem inside my kitchen cabinet door.
Prayer in cabinet

Nothing sweetens life like a teaspoon of kindness.

pexels-photo-1194429.jpeg

Photo by Toa Heftiba Åžinca on Pexels.com

Nothing settles ruffled feathers faster than an act of kindness.

close up of eagle

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Nothing is more powerful than returning anger with a kind response.

man and woman wearing brown leather jackets

Photo by Vera Arsic on Pexels.com

These truths were drummed into me by my mom when I was a child growing up. On the inside of her kitchen cabinet door, she had a cardboard tacked up. It was covered with poems she had cut out of the local newspaper back in the late 30’s. That was back in the days when it was typical for newspapers to post poetry on a daily or at least weekly basis.

I have that cardboard inside another cabinet door in my kitchen now. The words are faded and hard to read, but they remind me of my mom – her love of poetry, her positive philosophy of life, and the lessons she taught me. With a magnifying glass I can read some of them still.

Mom's poetry

One of my favorites is this one titled

Friends of Mine

Good morning, Brother Sunshine!
Good morning, Sister Song!
I beg your humble pardon
If you’ve waited very long.
I thought I heard you rapping,
To shut you out were sin.
My heart is standing open –
Won’t you walk right in?

Good morning, Brother Gladness!
Good morning, Sister Smile!
They told me you were coming,
So I waited on a while.
I’m lonesome here without you.
A weary while it’s been.
My heart is standing open –
Won’t you walk right in?

Good morning, Brother Kindness!
Good morning, Sister Cheer!
I heard you were out calling,
So I waited for you here.
Some days I keep forgetting
I have toil or spin
When you are my companions.
Won’t you walk right in?

The poet’s name is obliterated – all I can see is a “Ja”
But,  love the idea that

  • sunshine,
  • song,
  • gladness and
  • smiles,
  • kindness and
  • cheer

are right there waiting to be invited in.

opened brown wooden french door

Photo by Dmitry Zvolskiy on Pexels.com

What a better world we’d have,
what a better life we’d live,
if we invited them in each day…

beating-heart

Open your heart’s door to them –
And then spread that kindness
wherever you go today.

 

Life’s a Teeter-Totter

Twenty-seven years ago I wrote the poem that’s framed in the picture above (when I still considered myself a kid). I presented it as a birthday gift to my mom. When she left this earth a few years ago, I inherited the poem and the ceramic, musical mice in the teeter-totter that accompanied it.

Yesterday a blogging friend wrote a piece about “Balance.” She asked if it gets easier to find balance in life as we get older. I recalled this poem and told her I would post it today.

Rereading it now with 27 extra birthdays under my belt, I believe the “IFs” in here still are relevant today. And without that foundation of love, I would imagine finding balance is a bigger life-long struggle than it is for those whose home, mother, family and friends provided the love and stability we all crave.

What do you think?

.

Life is Like a Teeter-Totter

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of ups and downs.

Kids learn to roll and toss with it,

To shake away the frowns,

If they have had a loving home

To lean back and reminisce on when they roam.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of bounces and of bumps.

Kids learn to rock with a jolly jump

And shake away the lumps

If they have had a loving mother

To hug them tight and with kisses smother.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

It works better in pairs.

They keep each other balanced

And handle life in shares –

If they have had their mother’s arms

To guard against abuse and harms.

.

Life is like a teeter-totter,

Full of laughs and silly giggle.

Full of noise and wonderment –

Girls to squeeze and boys that wiggle –

If they have been secure in love,

Both from home’s hearth and God above.

.

Thank you, Mom, for filling my life

With love. More ups than downs, for sure.

You seemed to know my every need.

For every hurt, you had a cure.

Happy Birthday, Mother dear –

I thank God every day that you are near!

.

.

If you had a happy, loving home, with a mom who provided that sense of security and the ready help when you needed it, I bet you are able to keep life’s teeter-totter in better balance than those folks who missed that connection. How would you characterize your childhood? Did you have a mom who helped you have a greater chance for a balanced life?

Mom’s Messages


We all carry messages our mothers gave us.

Here are some of mine:

Eat your spinach
Clean your plate
Mind your manners
Don’t be late

Watch for danger
Stay off streets
Hold your chin up
Limit treats

Smile at strangers
Mind your father
Hold your tongue
Don’t be a bother

Save your pennies
Chase the blues
Never give up
Look for clues

Change your panties
Brush your teeth
Don’t judge others
See the good beneath

Happy Mother’s Day!
What are your Mom’s Messages?

Mother-Daughter

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