Monday, September 12, 2022
Mom was born in Brooklyn, NY, in the late 1920s, grew up on Webster Avenue, and went to Erasmus High School. I would say the family was well-off. Her parents were good people who owned a big furniture store in downtown Brooklyn. Eventually, the Depression ravaged most everyone; their business was hit hard because the sales were largely on credit. Their business like many collapsed. Many years later as a young boy helping my grandparents in a much smaller furniture store, I learned they had finally paid off all of their debt. Honor, pride, and fairness were instilled in Mom.
Their home was a one-bedroom apartment on a tree-lined street in a nice section of Brooklyn. There were some private homes. Mom’s life-long friend Audrey lived in one of the houses. I loved the charm of that apartment building and the neighborhood. Mom’s parents lived there until the late 1960s. It was a joy staying overnight and working in their store.
Mom’s father was also an electrician so he eventually volunteered to be a Sea Bee during the War. Mom told me times were difficult, but they made do with what they had. That experience had to have shaped her to become a proud member of The Greatest Generation. She had an artistic flair and wanted to be a fashion designer, and did work in a fancy department store, but life happened.
She met Dad and they got married, then us three kids happened. It wasn’t until maybe 8 years ago when I started to restore old photographs and saw photos of Mom... I told her in all seriousness she looked like a movie star. As time went on, Julie and David went through Mom and Dad’s treasures before the Highlands Ranch home was sold. They provided thousands of slides and photographs that revealed all but forgotten glimpses of Mom and our family life. It was then that the exceptional qualities of both Mom and Dad and the family life they provided became clear.
Later in Mom’s mid-life, she decided to go to college and enrolled in a program that was set up especially for adults. To say her program and courses were rigorous would be a huge understatement. The depth of her studies and abilities became particularly apparent when I transcribed Dad’s community newspaper columns for a bound volume. Dad wrote, and Mom was his sounding board, and also his de facto editor. Their work was awesome. Dad’s name was on the column, but I knew Mom deserved credit, too.
Mom, and Dad, were voracious readers. All three children love reading. In a brave moment, I told Mom about The Martian. Yes, she loved it as did I. Then, I told her about another two-book pair about an alternative history for planet Earth. She liked it and we talked about it in our phone calls.
Mom was a traveler. Not just the world with Dad, but she did the planets, and space, too! She told me stories of her travels and exploits. When I told her I understood, that I had a friend who confided to me on his deathbed that did travels like that for secret government projects, she was relieved, she wasn’t the only one or out of her mind.
Mom was a real friend to so many. Mom was really pretty cool.
I know we’ll meet again. See you later, Mom.
