Thanks, Mom!
Do as I say, not as I do.
If we want our children to possess the traits of character we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are and why they deserve both admiration and allegiance.
- William J. Bennett
Hello and welcome to JQ’s Substack!
This Sunday, May 12th, is Mother’s Day in the USA! This day is set aside to celebrate moms, but we should recognize mothers every day with a simple thank you.
When growing up in my small town in Central Illinois, I didn’t appreciate all Mom did for my two brothers and me. My dad was a funeral director. My mom was a schoolteacher. (Yes, she was my second-grade teacher, but that’s another story.)
Not only was she in charge of the family and home, she brought in a steady income as a teacher. In the funeral business, there is no paycheck every week or two weeks. If only people would die every week and the family would actually pay the bill, Dad would have had a regular paycheck. He might go weeks with no funerals and then he may have a flurry of them.
But Dad being Dad, if a family couldn’t pay the bill, he’d let it slide. During the war years and tough times, people paid him with chickens, eggs, and fresh vegetables from the garden.
After a day of teaching, Mom helped at visitations or wakes as some folks call it. Our family called it “swingin’ door.” In her “free time” on Sunday she prepared a pot roast to cook on the stove while we were at church.
During the week she didn’t have much time to get a meal on the table, so the Grill was like our second kitchen. It was located next to the funeral chapel in downtown Atlanta, Illinois, and convenient for us to walk over and enjoy the best chocolate milk in the world and a grilled roll. Or watch Old Man Hardy eat green peas from his honey-covered knife. Oh, the characters who spent time at the Grill!
Side note: The Grill has been renovated, and Atlanta has become a tourist destination for those traveling old Route 66.
Mom taught me work ethics because I saw her in action. Because of her example, I learned what motherhood, integrity, and faith were all about.
I’m not saying life with Mom was always sunny skies and calm seas, but we loved each other no matter what. She didn’t have to say she loved me because her actions demonstrated that. Kids learn from actions. Not from “do as I say, not as I do.”
Wishing you moms, grandmoms and those who are special in a child's life a very Happy Mother's Day!
Deadly Undertaking, a romantic suspense, was inspired by my life growing up in the funeral business. Dusting the caskets, setting up the chapel for funerals, hauling flowers to the cemetery. It’s an entertaining read for you or Mom!
Review for Deadly Undertaking: What an exciting mystery with a thrilling ending! There is so much going on in this book: drugs, gambling, a mother with Alzheimer's, and a ghost... a mystery inside of a mystery. Susan B.
How will you spend Mother’s Day?