MY MOM

Since it's Mother's Day today, I thought I'd post a bit about my mother, Nellie Lois Mobley Galentin. She passed way 28 years ago this month and I still miss her every day.

My folks had been married about 19 years when I showed up - the first, last and only child. My mom was 39 when I was born and I think she was surprised, to say the least. Nevertheless, she was a great mom. This picture is, of course, my mom and me when I was a baby. This pretty well represents our relationship for the rest of  her life. That unconditional love got me thru a lot of scary situations over the years.

My mom was born the 9th of 9 children in 1908. By the time she came along, the novelty of children had probably worn off. At the height of the influenza epidemic, her mom spent a lot of time away, nursing those afflicted. That left her home with her dad, who did his best, I'm sure. I think our close relationship stemmed from that sense of estrangement from  her mother as a child. I'm not badmouthing my grandmother - she and my mom had a close relationship when my mom was an adult and I believe she was a good, loving mother. 

You can see my mom in this picture with her dog, Spot. My goodness, she loved that dog. She even called herself  "Mrs. Spot"! I guess that's one place I got my love of animals.

My mom had a certain sense of style as you can see from this picture of her as a young woman. Don'tcha' just love the overalls? And the bobbed hair? She would look right at home today, I think.

And she passed that sense along to me as you can see from this picture take on a visit to Hot Springs, AR, when I was a child. We are decked out in fashionable hats and dresses, though I'm not sure I appreciated the hat at the time.

This is my mom with her mom, Georgianna Miller Mobley. Dressed to the nines again!!

My mom is also my hero! She only finished the 9th grade, but she was so smart. She loved to learn new things. She would read historical fiction and then go to the encyclopedia to learn the facts. She helped my dad run his liquor store before I was born. He probably would have gone bankrupt without my mom's superior business sense. She grew up in an tiny little rural town in Nebraska, but she was so sophisticated in the ways that count.

My mom loved to travel and was the impetus for my parents' move from Nebraska to Texas not long after they married. After my dad died, mom and I traveled a lot. She was a great travelling companion. She even went with me when I moved to South Carolina. She just soaked up the history of the area. We traveled to Charleston, Savannah, Asheville and Orlando in addition to our summer vacations at Hilton Head and Pawley's Island. She just loved Charleston. And when we moved back to Dallas, she felt like she was home. I guess she was a city girl at heart.

So my mom has always been a big presence in my life and I thank her for all the lessons she taught me. I miss you, mom, but I know you're always here with me.