She's My Mama

She’s My Momma!

                                                                                                By Paula Pinkston

My Momma was a “jack of all trades” and a “master” of many.  There was nothing Momma couldn’t do.  I have so many memories of our Easter dresses, coats and bonnets that she would make every year.  The bows she made for our socks always matched our dresses perfectly.  Our Easter baskets were lovingly filled and wrapped with pretty colored cellophane and ribbons.  She would always make a cake with green coconut grass, nests and colorful jelly bean eggs to finish off our Easter dinner. 

As we grew older Momma still made a lot of our clothes.  We had all the latest styles, like boxed pleated skirts, “nothing” blouses with monograms, and Can-Can skirts.  She even made our formals, and wedding dresses. 

Momma painted walls, hung wallpaper and even hung drywall.  She was instrumental in the building of two rooms in the attic of our house which became bedrooms for my sister and me.  That is where she learned she could drywall, put in windows and texture ceilings.  It never seemed to occur to Momma that she couldn’t do whatever it was she wanted to do.  I don’t remember anything she ever tried that she couldn’t do.  

When I was a teenager Momma decided to remodel the living room.  She wanted a royal blue carpet and a white corduroy sofa.  She also wanted a chair and cornice boards covered in royal blue floral print fabric. In a few weeks that is exactly what she had.  I watched as she took the pieces off the sofa and the chair one at a time and marked them, cut out the new pieces the same size and shape as the old ones and carefully sewed and stapled until all the pieces were replaced.  Even though she had never done it before, Momma discovered she could upholster furniture, cut out cornice boards, cover them and make draperies like a pro.  Daddy helped her lay the carpet and rearrange the furniture.  When that was done the room looked just as she had pictured it.

Not only could she sew, monogram, do carpentry work, upholster and cook, she could also draw and paint the most beautiful pictures you ever saw.  My Momma was the most talented women I have ever known.

Even though Momma could do all these things and more, she was always very self-conscious and shy, always thinking she wasn’t good enough, or talented enough.  She was always very kind and generous to others, but never felt good about herself.  Momma was a remarkable woman, friend, wife, mother and grandmother. 

Oh, Momma is still with us in body, but the essence of Momma is lost in the thralls of Alzheimer’s disease.  It is very difficult to watch her now as she tries to remember who I am or how to pick up a fork, or put one foot in front of the other.

I still remember who she is though and who I am because of who she was…she’s my Momma.