Monday, May 12, 2014

Lessons From Mother by Patricia Forsythe


Like most everyone else in this country, I spent last week thinking about my mother who passed away more than a decade ago.  She was a devout Christian who was always involved in church activities, a good friend to those who knew her, a loving mother to my sisters and me and a wonderful seamstress who created clothing so beautiful I have remained unimpressed by the creations of fashion designers throughout my life.  She made the best blackberry cobbler ever. 

All the lessons she taught me have served me well, but the best thing she did was set an example of how to be a lifelong learner and a voracious reader.  When I learned to read, I followed her pattern of reading steadily until I could complete a book in a day.  That was my practice for many years – at least until I had children.
 
My mother always had dozens, and then hundreds of books around.  They were stacked, two deep, on bookshelves and stored in boxes in every closet of her house.  She couldn’t bear to part with any book.  I even found my old high school algebra book at the bottom of one of those boxes.  Water-logged and with the pages stuck together, I had no problem tossing it, though my mom asked if I really thought that was a good idea.

 

She liked fiction, especially stories of people who overcame the challenges that life threw at them.  The sweet romances I’ve written were a source of pride to her.  She liked to buy books in a series and when she passed away, my sisters and I collected her books, put the series together, and took them to her church where we found other eager readers.  I like to think her legacy of reading and learning continues.

We all have lessons we learn from our parents, some are good and some not so good but any lesson that teaches us to value the writing, knowledge, and wisdom of others is one to be cherished.  Thanks, Mama!

11 comments:

  1. Agree, Patricia. The joy of reading and learning is a wonderful thing to pass on down to your children. A lovely post.

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  2. Instead of books stacked everywhere, I now have books on my kindle and I encourage my kids to read a good one in my account. Thanks for reminding us about the wonder of mothers.

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  3. I love hearing that people have encouraged their kids to read. Mine are voracious readers and I hope they carry on the tradition with my grandkids.

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  4. Hi, Patti. Your mom and my mom both loved reading and treasured books. It was a great example for all of us. And I always admired your mom's ability to create beautiful things. I still have a doll she made for my mom years ago. I miss them both.

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  5. Thanks, Donna. My mom was something of an artist in cloth. She could picture how something she was sewing would turn out. I can't do that, but if I follow the pattern it usually works out.

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  6. What a beautiful tribute to your mother, Patricia. Amazing I thought you were writing about my own Mom who was an amazing seamstress, and a voracious reader. I left her collection of books to the assisted living where she lived the last years of her live.

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  7. What a beautiful tribute to your mother, Patricia. Amazing I thought you were writing about my own Mom who was an amazing seamstress, and a voracious reader. I left her collection of books to the assisted living where she lived the last years of her live.

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  8. I definitely get my love of reading from my mom. Sadly I did not inherit her ability to sew, lol

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  9. Both of my parents were readers, so three of the four of us kids took up the habit.

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  10. What a lovely tribute to your mom, Patricia. I posted a lovely poem by a reader on my blog today, titled "Mother Gone." http://booksbylyncote.com/SWBS/poem-2/poem-mother-gone-sydney-halet I miss my mom too!

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  11. Such a nice blog, Patricia! Both of my parents were voracious readers, both were writers, and both were artists. I'm fortunate to have inherited some of the word skills, but sadly, none of the drawing/painting ability.

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