Thursday, November 30, 0002
My Mom's Life - October 14, 2010
Posted: October 14, 2010 | Last Revised: October 14, 2010
Most of you only know my Mom from the time she married Ben and moved to Burlington, so I thought I would tell you a little about her earlier life so you could get to know Marjorie Jean, Marge, Margie, Crazy Old Marge or just Mom.
The first part I don't know too much about. She was born in Colorado Springs. She was a daughter and a sister and from the pictures I've seen, she was very good-looking and very athletic. She said she liked High School and was a Head Majorette. I'm sure she would have been considered quite a catch by all the boys in Goodland. She went to one year of College and then got married. She seemed to always have a smile on her face and I do know she loved her mom, dad and sister very much.
The second part I know a little more about. As a lot of women from her time did, she got married young and started a family soon after the war. When I was born, we lived in Goodland for about three years before moving to Denver in the early 50's. At that time there were just four of us but before long there were six (Ben, David, Shelley, Kevin, Mom and Dad). We all grew up in a small home with two bedrooms, one bath and a garage converted into a bedroom, in a Denver suburb called University Hills, from the early 50's until 1964.
Our dad always seemed to have a job that kept him away from home a lot, so it was left up to mom to be both the mom and the dad. I believe that she did a great job at both. It makes you wonder how she made it all work. It's hard to imagine an eight year old boy, a six year old boy, a two year old girl and a baby boy in a three bedroom, one bath house. I can't speak for the rest of the kids but I think she did a great job. Mom's the one who taught me to play baseball and kickball, but also to cook, clean, sew, wash clothes and become a man. She's the one who took me to all my football games and basketball games. She was the den mother for Cub Scouts. She was the arbitrator of fights. She played with all of us kids together and separately and made us all feel special. Everyone in the neighborhood knew her whistle when she called us home. Try putting your hands together sometime and form a cup and then blow on your thumbs, her whistle was unmistakable. She made the costumes for Halloween. We were Raggedy Ann and Andy or the very inappropriate Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima. She would burn the top of a pumpkin and rub the blackened part on our faces. And by the way she also worked. She was a dental assistant and an office assistant. I will always have a special place in my heart for all the people that give out samples in grocery stores because mom did that too. She handed out sausage (Pig in the Sack) and America Beauty mashed potatoes.
She made sure we were all in the right place at the right time. She was the nurse, the doctor, the cook, a shoulder to cry on, the one to ask for advice, the one to kick you in the butt when needed and the one to hold you and love you always. She was the glue that held everything together. If you asked her today she would tell you that she loved raising her kids and would do it all over again. She truly loved each and every one of us.
The last part of her life brings us up to today. In the seventies mom and dad split and she moved up to Golden Colorado and stayed with her dad to get her feet back on the ground. It was at this time she rekindled an old friendship and a wonderful man came back into my life, Ben Jones. They got married in the mid-seventies and Mom and Ben started their life together in Burlington. Here's a great story about Ben, I hope he doesn't mind. It shows you the kind of loving man that he is. I was the only one of mom's kids that lived in Colorado at that time. Ben called me and asked if I would come down to see him in Burlington. I believe that was the first time I stayed in his house on Paradise Drive. I think we went out to dinner and came back home and sat down and had a drink and then I found out why he wanted to see me. Ben asked if it was ok with me if he married my mom. What a wonderful and caring heart Ben Jones has. He is always looking out for everyone else and wanted to make sure everyone was all right with what he wanted to do.
I won't go into any time line but here is what I know about her time with Ben in Burlington. She loved not having to work at a job for the first time in her life and having a house with more than one bathroom but most of all she loved being Doctor Ben's wife, who she called the love of her life. She learned to play golf and was active in the community. There is a picture somewhere of her on a float going down main street with her in some kind of make-shift space suit and helmet with a saying on the float "Pars for Mars". I think the Golf Club was supporting Mike Lounge Day. Ben and mom travelled some, hung out with many other couples, played golf, went to the golf club for dinners and had friends over. But most of all they liked just being at home and with family. It sometimes seemed that they would go somewhere and by the time they got there they wanted to get back home.
Most of the holidays were over at their house and she loved to have family around. I wish that more of mom's kids were able to be there for the holidays, but we all lived in different states and it was hard to make that happen. I know she didn't express it often enough but she loved her extended family: Nancy and Mary Lyn along with their kids and grand kids. She especially loved having Jeff and Tammy's kids over, they seemed to make her feel younger.
This is just a snapshot of my mom. There are many other stories but it's hard to put 86 years into words. I lived 63 of those years and I know that she loved me every one of them. Mom was able to give me one final gift, on the Friday before she died and I left to go home, I was able to wake her up and she smiled and said she loved me and that everything was all right.
I want to thank Mary Lyn, Cliff, Nancy, Dan, Kelly, Jeff, Tammy, Tyler, Ryan, McKenna, Kately, Kyron, Brynna and Lulu for being there for mom. You are all very special for spending time and taking care of mom. I also what to thank all the wonderful people at Grace Manor and Hospice for all you have done. The beginning of mom's stay at Grace Manor until the end of her life she always said what wonderful care she was getting. She never once failed to tell me or Kevin how nice everyone treated her and that this was a great place to be.
I especially want to thank my friend Ben Jones for all his love and caring for his wife and my mother. I want him to know that she loved you with all her heart and that she knew you also loved her. What a gift you gave each other. You were always there for her and never let her down and you were holding her hand till the very end. Please know that you can't stop time and that you did everything that you could possibly do. I love you for everything you've done and everything you are.
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