Mrs. Teabody Talks About Mother

My mother and paternal grandmother with the first son.                                                                                                           

"Wisdom from my mother?
I know one to the letter:
'You're just as good as anyone
 . . . not one iota better.'"   ~ Mrs. Teabody

Good Morning, Gentle Reader! A fuzzy, foggy window scene announces this first Monday morning in May, and the day ahead is filled with appointments, duties and fun - - hopefully with the latter component in greater measure beginning with a morning perambulation through the green woods with Lady Glass and the Duchess Ming. This notching down in temperatures and the ambient gloom seem appropriate for a reflective week as America hurtles inexorably toward Sunday, May 13 which is Mother's Day. For those of you gentle readers who have a (living) mother hoping and waiting for some display of your regard and affection, Mrs. Teabody admonishes you to put a little thought into your plans, preparations and presents. Most mortals get only one mother regardless of all the satisfactory surrogates one is fortunate enough to discover. She deserves your attention.

Mrs. Teabody has six siblings nicely divided into three sisters and three brothers. For the past several years, it has become customary for this lot to gather at the ancestral home sometime during the first weekend of each month for a meal together, a little gaming diversion, and an informal "meeting." May meetings have a particular poignance as both Mother and Father passed the first Saturday in May nine years apart. Speaking for all siblings, Mrs. Teabody can safely say that both parents are missed almost daily. However, there is little point in abject despair, and neither of Mrs. Teabody's parents spent much time feeling sorry for themselves -- typically because there was too much work to be done. The first Sunday in May saw the Teabodys hurtling toward Clear Ridge mid morning to enjoy good company and conversation.

The hub of activity in the ancestral home, a home whose original construction dates to 1799,  is and always has been the kitchen. Who can calculate how many birthday celebrations have been held in this room? How many Christmas dinners? How many "fresh catch" suppers?  How many conversations over coffee cups? How many shared griefs? How many triumphs? The mind reels to consider how much LIFE has transpired in this kitchen alone. If walls could talk, what stories would they tell?

 Recent renovations to this room make it a pleasant place to be always, but its very best feature is a dining table that seats ten, and that was precisely the right count for Sunday's repast, and it was made even more magical by the fact that all seven siblings were in attendance. Mrs. Teabody's oldest brother will turn 72 in July and her youngest brother will turn 56 the same month with the rest of the family falling in between those two numbers with Mrs. Teabody's youngest sister turning 60 in September. Think of it, Gentle Reader. It is most assuredly some sort of miracle to have such a large (old!) family still intact, still loving one another, still desiring the company of one another! But this is, at least in part, an earthly miracle brought about by sensible, practical, responsible and loving parents - parents who were not at all like the self-indulgent Kardashians, nothing like the buffoons of Springfield or South Park. But parents who were much more like the Waltons, albeit the Waltons with a pronounced stubborn streak.

In spite of the passing of so many years, Mrs. Teabody still misses her mother. Just thinking of her brings such a sense of longing for the past when the world made more sense, but that is not a sentiment Mrs. Teabody's mother would embrace. No. Mrs. Teabody's mother would say, "You have broad shoulders. You can handle it." So, Mothers, step up and hand your children some practical wisdom, some sensible advice, some heartfelt encouragement, some genuine love. And children,  love and honor your mothers, make memories with them, make peace with them. And most importantly, be the reflection of all their best qualities. At least part of that is siblings around a table, family intact, loving one another, desiring the company of one another. A "miracle" that you CAN make, Gentle Reader! Truly.

Ta for now!