Stain-glass Eyes

Words limit my ability to describe the essence of my mom. I wonder what she’d say about her ninety years.  I know she’s said that many years of rearing the kids were a blur.  But I wonder if family, national and world events stand apart from her other memories? What did she see, hear, feel and experience in the years of her life, from 1926 to 2016?   She started out in MacMillan, Michigan as a child. Her family, the Neys, lived on a farm.  No electricity, no television, no car.  Twelve siblings and Mom’s mom raising basically alone.  Mom’s father was off working port to port on the Great Lakes ships.   The Era of the Great Depression The Great Depression     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH20lpFu_3Q Mom was raised in the Baptist religion.  The weeks revolved around the chores, school and church.  It didn’t sound like there was a lack of fun, music and adventures, though. When she was five years old Mom ...

Entering the YMCA locker room this week, I heard a conversation between two young women.  I had to walked past them to get to a locker with a bench, so I wasn’t actually making an effort to listen.   They were doing a lot of preening and couldn’t possibly have noticed I had to turn my body sideways to get by them as they flitted their feathers and checked beneath their wings for anything that might make them less desirable than the rest of the flock. They stood by the large mirror with a counter where the hairdryers are located.   “Does my butt look fat in these pants?  I want your honest answer. Do they?” This dark-haired, dark-eyed, beautiful, young woman had a frown on her face questioning her friend.  The young woman who was no less than two feet taller than her, blond hair and thin as a soda straw,  said, “Yes, they do”.  (Well, I spoke too soon on the “Friend” label)   There was silence.  Not a shower was...