My Mother CategoriesMemories & Musings

My Mother

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would tell you a little about my Mom.  Her name was Hattie Pride Brooks.  Mom was an amazing and godly woman.  She was also a woman of many talents.  She was the mother of three wonderful girls, I’m the oldest.  My Mom was also the oldest girl in her family.  The difference is that Mom was the second child of eleven children.  She always taught us to do what was right and to help others.  She taught us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Mom took care of some of her siblings until I came along.  My parents had been married for eight years before I was born.  At that time, Mom was caring for her youngest sister.

To give you a little background about my Mom, she worked in a laundry factory for a long time.  As a matter of fact, she taught me how to press and laundry clothes.  Do you know what it was like to work in a laundry factory?  HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom only got to the eighth grade, but she attended night school so she could get her high school diploma.  She worked, took care of the family, cooked, took classes and she did it all while we all were in school.  She did this because she wanted to be a nurse.  Mom was big on helping others.  My husband thinks I took after her, except I wasn’t big on being a nurse (smile).  She didn’t get to finish nursing school, but what training she received, she used well.

Rita's Mom's QuiltMom was a seamstress.  She could make a pattern out of newspaper and you would have a dress or skirt the same night.  She did all her sewing on a Singer Sewing machine with the paddle you had to mash to make it move.  She made many of my dresses and my sisters’ as well.  She was also big on making quilts.  As a matter of fact, when I had my first child, Mom came to visit and took some old clothes my husband and I had, cut them up in squares, and made a quilt for our king size bed.  All in one week’s time.  I still have that quilt today.  It has been very well used in this Virginia winter weather.  Of course, I’ve had to have it repaired from so much usage.

Mom was also a hair stylist.  I remember many nights when we would be in bed and she would still be doing someone’s hair.  She did this mostly for family and friends.

Another thing Mom was good at doing was playing the piano.  She was the pianist for the choir at her church for many years.  She also wrote and sang songs.  The one I like the most is “Will I Be Remembered at The End”.  It was a gospel song.

My Mom was really an amazing woman and I am proud to be her number one daughter.

 

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Rita McCulloch is a mid generation Boomer who saw change and turmoil happen all around her from a vantage point as a young African American woman growing up in Huntsville, Alabama. Yet her focus was on family, community, church and helping others. She began helping seniors with their personal and financial needs as a volunteer while raising her family. She then founded a business, Boomer3Solutions, through which she helps educate, organize, and prepare families for their golden age years and minimize the stress that can be related to caregiving. Rita brings to Boomer Connections a strong background in elder care concerns and the many decisions facing their Boomer family members.

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