Today is my mother’s birthday. Even though she died in 1988 she is still an ever present part of my life. She was an easy going, enthusiastic, happy, positive person. She was always supportive. Even the dreadful Alzheimer’s disease could not take away her smile or her love of babies. She grew up on a small farm near Woodruff, SC and graduated from Woodruff High School. She and my dad were married just before the great depression. Both of them worked in the textile mill. She stayed employed there until her retirement. She and dad were active members of Northside Baptist Church. My sister, Jean, inherited her generosity of spirit. One of my most vivid memories of her is her standing at the kitchen sink watching for my dad’s pickup truck to turn into our driveway. That was her signal to put supper on the table. In her younger years, she was an avid softball player and she played on the mill’s team. She and dad were both good swimmers. They enjoyed square dancing and dad was a great caller. Both Jean and I inherited a double dose of the puritan work ethic. Long before anyone ever heard of the feminist movement, we grew up in a home where there was no woman’s work or men’s work. There was just work which they did together. They had his and her lawn mowers. Hers was electric. We were not sent to church. They took us and stayed. The worst thing that Jean or I could do was to try to play one parent against the other. It never worked and usually ended badly for us. This is the first time I have written about a deceased person for Thankful Thursday, but, she lives on. Her influence is everywhere. She loved Christmas. Now she just has a more intimate view. On this Thankful Thursday, I am grateful for my mother, Edith Gossett Carnell.
Thankful Thursday is a day set aside to recognize the importance of someone to our lives and to let her or him know of our gratitude. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Say Something Nice; Be a Lifter. You will be glad that you did.
