Sunday, September 15, 2013
My mother gave her children a love of music & song & the beach at Rockaway. I can still her singing Molly Bawn. The nurses said she frequently sang. Mom always told her children "Don't be common" believing all capable of being better than they are. She was kind to her neighbors & always ready to, and did, lend a hand or money to those in need. Mom, one of 14 children, the only one who immigrated to the USA, came from very modest circumstances in rural Ireland. She met Dad, a man from Clare, at an Irish dance hall & began her life with him. In winter, Dad would only wear the wool socks Mom knit for him. She loved to knit, we wore many Aran sweaters & later, after the kids were grown, to read novels. Mom's younger sister Nora told me that if it wasn't for Mom & other older siblings sending money home frequently, the family in Ireland would have starved. "We had nothing," said Nora. Mom, after not being home in almost 30 years, took a trip there with the kids in 1965. She showed us her homeland, both its beauty & its bleakness. She laughed when we asked where the bathroom was. It was outside, anywhere you wanted to go. Mom also laughed when people asked her how she could have left Ireland, such a beautiful country. Mom said "You'd leave, too, if you were hungry." Mom loved her home, seeing neighbors & going to the local thrift shops. "Everyone goes," she said. Mom had many disappointments in life, but her great religious faith was always a great solace to her. In her later years, no longer home, not able to read or walk, she was never bitter. Rather, she accepted her reduced circumstances with grace & a strong faith in God. While relieved that Mom is no longer in discomfort, I miss her so.
