My Mom Wasn't June Cleaver

My mother was a product of a new revolution.Growing up at a time when most women either became homemakers or went to college only to become homemakers.My mother desired to be more,a lot more.Her mother passed on when she was in her twenties,so it was put up to my mother to step in and attempt to take up where she had no real clue as to what to do.

My grandmother was a very industrious and busy woman who never had time to teach her girls the fundamentals of running a house.Running a household back in the late forties ,early fifties wasn't an easy task,and my grandmother often didn't have the patience to teach her daughters the basics of cooking,sewing or cleaning.Helping my grandfather at his business,my mother was unprepared to step in and fill the shoes of homemaker.Feeling daunted,she did what she knew best,attended business college,moved to Cleveland and started a career in real estate,insurance and selling cemetery lots.As she often said,she had life covered in all angles with her careers.Being a business woman in the 1950's was almost unheard of and she was a fore runner of what would later would be called "woman's lib"in the late sixties.Romance was a part of her life but the thought of marriage never occurred as she kept herself busy with her career,until she met my father.

They were married on a March 17th,St.Patrick's Day,her favorite holiday.She became pregnant and tried to settle in with the idea of being a typical housewife and mother.My father had a decent job and life was good.She learned some basic cooking skills,some of her own recipes are classic,such as tuna noodle casserole,using just one pot.Cleaning house was a challenge as her eye sight became blurred by cataracts and we employed a cleaning woman.They also employed a young hire to help take care of me as I understand "things were beginning to change" with her body.

By the time I was seven,she had eye surgery and had completed her cycle of life.She was also ready to start a new chapter.She went back to school and got her real estate license again and wanted to get back to a more familiar turf.We kept the cleaning lady,an older Polish lady named Sharri,who taught my mom some European recipes and gave her tips to keep things in the home orderly.My mom sprang back to something she really loved. Although her career wasn't as ambitious as when she was single,it gave her great satisfaction.She also taught me how to horseback ride, play golf,the beauty of theatre,and basically love life.How life's little indiscretions can't leave you down,turn them around.

Although she is gone now,I still have fond memories of how she did remind me of June Cleaver,by the way she dressed and carried herself,but not with the homemaker flair.She was better at selling homes,and actually looked more like Rosalind Russell.She did have good taste and could always pick a winner.She always said nobody,not any other man, could top my dad.He helped her live her dream.She lived her dream,and I am ever grateful she was my mom.

I miss you,I miss you both~ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ~