My Good Mother....
My mother is a good one. Much to her dismay I'm sure, I have taken what she taught me and turned it into a full-fledged business with Ben. -- I gave her end-all grief about farming and the entire lifestyle growing up. I disliked working in the fields, picking cucs, grading out cucs, hoeing onions, snapping beans, canning veggies, etc,etc growing up. It was like pulling teeth, but she made me do it. My mother sent me to school with a lunch pail full of: homemade bread with homemade peanut butter -(she would go to the local health food store, buy peanuts to grind, 'cause store peanut butter had lots of sugar and other crap in it) dried fruit, (she loved her dehydrator, so we had lots of mason jars adoring the kitchen loaded with peaches, pears, apples) , a thermos of juice, (commercial "drinking boxes" were crappy and too full of sugar) so my siblings and I got homemade grape juice or 'rendered down' concentrate to calm the sugar content. My mother gave a damn about our health at all times. Not about what was 'cool' or what the 'other kids had',- she did what she knew was healthy and right. She never seemed to care what 'advertisers' were up to, as I cried and begged for 'pink' cereal - and it just didn't happen. Besides our daily menu, this was very pivitol in day to day life: I was never in charge of my mother's happiness. She never involved me in any drama or chaos. Sure, my parents had lots of problems while I little and growing up; lots of family issues, money problems, but NEVER ONCE was I EVER directly involved. My mother created an environment which was completely NON STRESSFUL for my siblings and I. I could feel free to be myself, love anyone I wanted too with no worry it might 'hurt mommy'. I love my mother sooo much for LEAVING ME ALONE and letting me be me!!!! My mother and I have never been 'best friends'. She had her own friends, and I had mine. I sure as hell NEVER shared everything with my mother growing up.!!!! I seriously think this is very, very normal and healthy! She never tried to buy my happiness with materialistic goods - didn't work out. My mother didn't play that game. What I have now with my mother is mutual adult respect and love. She made me work during my childhood, BUT she never made me worry, - she let me live my life as a child, a teenager and grow into an adult without worrying about her and life surrounding us. She did her best to protect ME, I never felt the need to have to protect her. THANK YOU MOTHER TERESA, and Happy Mother's Day!!! I am trying to do my best to pass along what you've taught me...you are one of the best.....
