My Mother was the kind of Mother that every child deserves to have. Her heart was enormous and it showed through her love for family and friends. She chose not to have a career outside the home once her children began to arrive; instead, she devoted her life to her children and my Father. All through the adolescent years of my siblings and myself, she made certain that we were all provided for from the start of the day until the end of the day. She was a practical nurse by trade and when were sick, she always knew just what to do. As a child, I was sick alot so many of her nights were sleepless as she spent the time caring for me. Even after her health began to fail and after I'd become an adult out on my own, she insisted on caring for me when I was ill. That was not easy for her because many days, she was really not up to even leaving her own home but that did not stop her from doing what she felt she needed to do. As time went on and her health diminished more and more, it was my turn to take care of her. My father had pre-deceased my Mother and I never regretted one moment of taking care of her...that's what I needed to do.
She was the best Mother and friend that I could have ever been blessed with and I love her dearly. She too was a dreamer but unfortunately because of her health, many of her dreams were never fulfilled. The greatest thing that she and my Father instilled in us, was to not judge people by the color of their skin or by what history has told but to judge people by the size of their hearts. What we were taught was put to the test in the 1970's when riots broke out in High School. While blacks took side with their race and whites took side with theirs, we remained in the middle. For us, there was no side to be chosen...it was all just wrong.
My Mother became my best friend before she died. We had our times when we didn't get along at all but I remember something that happened a number of years before she died, when I was a good deal younger. I had been dating this guy for a brief while and it was Christmas time. I'd gone to our usual haunt, only to witness the fact that he'd become enthralled with another girl...I was yesterday's news, just like that. With a gift in hand for him, I was mortified and needless to say, I went home wounded that night. The next morning after I awoke, my Mother asked if I'd had a good time the night before. I started to cry and I told her what had happened. As she held me in her arms, she said the so and so was a rotten you know what and that he didn't deserve me anyway.
The day my Mother passed away was one of THE worse days of my life. I was devastated for I not only lost my best friend but I lost the desire to continue to dream; living seemed so irrelevant, I was an empty shell. Realizing that I was slipping deeper into the abyss, my Sister who lives in Cheyenne insisted that I come there to visit as I had done on previous occasions. When I arrived, it was just at the start of "Frontier Days ~ 100th Anniversary" and the town was naturally more abuzz than during previous "Frontier Days". My Sister and Brother-in-law always purchased season tickets to the rodeo events and shows but this year, they had traded their tickets to see one particular performer (Garth Brooks) for another performer.
I was as far from country music as anyone could possibly get but as a child I was exposed to the likes of Hank Williams, Sr. and Patsy Cline along with a variety of music. While I appreciated the music of Hank and Patsy, I was a child of Rock~n~Roll. Nonetheless, my Sister thought I'd enjoy seeing Garth perform but we had no tickets. She did play some of his CD's and while we looked through the Classified Ads trying to find tickets, I remember being hit like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, I heard my father saying..."this guy's one helluva story teller". The more we searched the Ads, the more our hopes of my seeing this guy (who brought a smile to my face in a way no one or nothing else had in a long time) were dashed.
The next morning, the phone rang and it was my Sister calling from work. She said, "you know, Garth is performing at the fairgrounds tonight and well...we're going"! I SCREAMED!!!! But why was I screaming...what kind of show would he put on??? I'll tell you what kind of show! Although our seats were far back and I didn't have a good camera, I sat there mesmerized watching this guy run all around the stage. Now, you have to picture this. There were two tractor trailers backed up to each side of the stage and each had a ramp that led from the top of the trailer down to the stage. Watching this guy run up onto the tops of these trailers...back and forth, back and forth, all the while he performed...completely BLEW ME AWAY!!!! July 22, 1996 changed my life entirely.
When I got back home, I'd found a reason to get up everyday, to dream again, the courage and strength to climb out of that abyss. I had found the music of GARTH BROOKS and I knew I had to find out everything I could about him to fill that empty shell. In doing so, aside from the CD's and tapes, I knew the only place to listen to his music was on country stations. Once the ride began, I found just how narrrow minded I'd been by not giving "his" music a chance and before you knew it, I was going to country concerts...meeting artists and having a blast! My life was taking on a much needed new and exciting direction and little did I know what was in store for me...it only gets better and better. I realized that my Mother's dying gift to me was one of a truly remarkable new life filled with the love and happiness I'd only once dreamed of. All my Mother ever wanted was to be loved. I love you Mom, always have...always will, you were loved and I miss you everyday!!!
My Aunt was a strong, independent woman who survived a bad marriage and who went on to raise three children by herself while at the same time held down a career, owned a beautiful home, attended college, provided for her children's education and travelled extensively. She was always there for me especially when my Mother was physically unable. You might say alot of women accomplish these goals, but in the 1960's it was rare. She was a dreamer who happened to believe that if you could dream it, you could make it happen. I'll always remember what she taught me.
This is where it all began and this page is dedicated to these two remarkable women.
This is my niece Jehna. She was 17 years old when this photo was taken and she is my Mother's only Grandchild. I do so wish my Mother could have seen the truly beautiful young lady she has become. Jehna's in pursuit of her dreams and right now, it's college and hopefully moving to NY. She'll be alot closer to me than CA and Bradley Cole who plays Prince Richard on "Guiding Light". :) You go girl!!!! Can you stand the fact that she needs no makeup to look like this! :D
Graphics on this page are courtesy of the above.
