written by Elva on her memories of her mother as read at the family reunion in 1996
What I remember of her stature was that she seemed rather tall, at least to me. She had the most beautiful long black har, she wore it in a bun, which certainly had to be heavy. She often had headaches. Her kindness, gentleness, and patience were much to be admired.
Her patience must have been tested often, for instance: it was Frieda and my job to do dinner dishes. There were times when we did good to have them ready for the supper table. She just went about doing what she was doing ignoring the situation.
Really, the first recollection I have of her is teaching us songs. One song being “Gott ist die Liebe” now in our song books “For God so Loved Us.” The first verse: for God so loved us, He sent the Savior, for God so loved us, and loves me too. Chorus: Love so unending, I’ll sing his praises, God loves his children, loves even me. She also taught us other songs.
There were times she would plan a picnic. We usually packed a basket of food and drink and walked to a grove near by. Those of us at the time enjoyed those outings very much.
She also introduced us to a game of Rook. We always looked forward to playing that game of cards until she felt it got too important and that was the end of our Rook games. When a croquet set was set up in the backyard, she enjoyed playing that game with us.
She was an excellent cook. I recall one time when some South Dakota relatives were coming for dinner giving short notice, she stirred up the best marble cake I ever ate. Recipes were in her head, a cup of rich cream, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, baking powder and of course spices for the marble effect. Her bread was wonderful, tasting so good with jam and thick cream, which was often our snack after school. All baked in a wood range without a thermostat. We were also taught to bake in that range. There must have been some magic for baked things to turn out so good.
Bread baking was done often and mother had a lot of trouble with the sniffles, often her nose dripping while she was kneading dough for bread. Many times I held a handkerchief under her nose while she was kneading. That might explain why many of us have sinus problems, it was just called hay fever then.
There were times when she would double over with severe pain from gall bladder attacks. Eventually a stone would pass and she had relief, but her complexion turned jaundice. We kids didn’t realize how serious that could be. I feel that contributed to the cause of her death. Her liver being damaged because of her gall bladder condition.
Then also what’s really upper most in my mind was her singing. When Dad bought a piano it was like a new toy for her. Often she would play the piano and sing. I don’t know if she had lessons or was playing by ear. Before her marriage to Dad, she sang in a mixed quartet.
When we got a radio that was also a special treat for her. There was a radio station that would sing gospel songs. Also, such songs as Red Wing and others. People requested songs for birthdays and other occasions. She would send in requests, especially for birthdays. Some of her favorites were “Redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb” and “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me”. She would often sing while rocking babies. “His eye is on the sparrow” was sung at her funeral. Friday being Good Friday was the last time she played and sang, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord.” That touched me deeply and then when she died a few days later, that was hard to understand.
She was taken much too young from us. She wasn’t very vocal about her faith but she lived it and her singing left a wonderful testimony and witness. Those of us that remember her cherish the memories that we have.
One time uncles and aunts came to help with hog butchering. Mother asked me to bake pumpkin pies, I missed one of the most importatnt ingredients, the eggs. As a result the pies were soupy. Whether the pies were eaten, I don’t remember. Mother didn’t even scold me, I guess she thought I felt bad enough.
And then there was the time when Dad had a job on the road. Dad’s check was supposed to buy gifts for Christmas. It was the morning of December 24, when mother got us all together and calmly told us there will not by any gifts unless the check came in the mail that day. Sure enough the check was in the mail! Mom and Dad went to Hutch that afternoon and we each got a gift. My gift was a pair of stockings. Us older ones got gifts of clothing and the younger ones a toy. They didn’t even buy each other gifts.