Happy Mother's Day 2011

Normally I go by the saying, 'It's better to be 30 minutes early than 5 minutes late.' Tonight I say, 'Better late than never.'


In honor of ALL the mothers in my life, I'm going to share 1 memory of each mother that I'm related to. To be included in this list are my own Mom, Grandmas, and Aunts...Living or passed on. Here we go.'

Grandmas

Grandma Price-Grandma was kind of like Mom. Or maybe Mom was kind of like Grandma. Either way you look at it, my memory of Grandma is a hug when I got there and being called a turd or little sh** while I visited. Occasionally I would clip her toenails and I loved playing her baby grand piano and organ...the one in my front room right now.


Norma-My grandpa married Norma when I was about 15. I don't really have a specific memory with her, but she always acts interested when I see her and she always remembers my name. Both of those things are important to me.

Grandma Anderson-The only memory I have was when Grandma came to visit us in Meridian. We were downstairs sitting on the orange couch, showing each other our fingernails. It was the first time I had grown out my nails and hers were really long, but full of dirt. I asked her why and she told me they weren't dirty, they were stained from canning grape juice. I thought they would be there forever. I didn't know nails grew from the bottom up. That night at dinner she took her teeth out and set them on her plate while she gummed her steak. Good times.

Aunts

Chris Anderson-Chris lives in Utah and while we lived there she watched my kids so I could I go to doctor's appointments while I was pregnant with Robert. She was always a guarantee for interesting and thought provoking conversation.

Brenda Anderson-Brenda passed away on Christmas Eve in 1999. I didn't/don't know my Dad's side of the family very well and in my memory, it was Brenda and Sherrell we saw the most growing up - which still only adds up to a handful of times. Brenda was always my favorite aunt on Dad's side for that very reason - I knew her the best. When I was a few weeks off from having Nicole I called her and she gave me tons of birthing/labor advice. She also told me about the herbs I could start taking that would help me start labor. It was a good visit and the last one I ever had with her.

Shiela Martinez-We had a family reunion in Portland, Oregon when I was a little girl. It was held at Shiela's home. Highlights of that reunion include sandy hotdogs, playing dress up in Darcy's clothes and chicken and dumplings for one of the meals, with an encore dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Stephanie Kean-I've only met Stephanie one time. She was at the family reunion held in Portland. She brought her new baby with her. After the reunion was over Stephanie rode back with us to Meridian, ID and stayed with us a while. I remember shadowing her almost the whole time and holding her baby  as often as she would allow.

Marla Price-I have a lot of memories with Marla. My most recent was just a few weeks ago when I went to Eastern Washington with my Dad for the day. We got to Steve and Marla's and she was making the corn meal cakes my mom used to make. She had huge roaster's of the meat sauce cooking and had a running list of how many cakes she had grilled. This is kind of an insignificant thing, except for the fact that it is exactly something my Mom would have done. It was fun to be in her home again and to visit for a short while. The time went by too quickly.

Terri Price-I saw Terri on that same Eastern Washington trip. There was an impromptu family reunion at Shirla's house. I can't remember which of her children live there now. Terri came, we visited for a little while and she made awesome popcorn that was coated with cinnamon and peppermint white chocolate. Delish!

Jan Collier-When my Grandma died I slept walked all over the house one of the first nights we got into town. That night I got in bed with my Grandpa, all my brothers and sisters and ended up in bed with Jan and Tom. I was 11 and sad. They didn't tease me in the morning...much.

Jill Mathews-I haven't seen Jill in years. The last time I saw her was when we were living in Grandview. She and Grant were at the temple, in the same session Ken and I. The time before that was a few months earlier - on Nicole's 5th birthday. We went to Basin City for my cousin, Tyler's, mission farewell. When I went to Relief Society, she introduced me and even told a little about me. Because I didn't really see any of my aunts and uncles too often growing up, I was (and still am) always surprised when they know who I am. It was a special moment for me.

Sanette Casper- When I was a little girl Sanette took me with her to feed the baby lambers. I got to go without any other kids coming too. I loved the attention.

Mom

• One time I told her she wasn't a better piano player than me. She just had more days to practice. She disagreed...humbly.
• Sometimes when Mom laughed it sounded like she was crying. That was her most sincere laugh. There are times when I hear myself laugh that same way. The last time it happened, it actually made me cry.
• The first Mom/Daughter night I had with mom, just the two of us, was when Sister Act came out in the theater. We saw it together. Sunday after church.
• She drove me crazy.
• I learned a lot from her and now drive my kids crazy.