The End of and Era-The God Fearing, Soap Opera , Loving Mom

My mother was in a class all by herself. She was the classic, Black Donna Reed with a Pastor Shirley Ceasar twist.

I have many wonderful memories of her getting up an hour early each morning before everyone else to cook breakfast for my Dad.
She also ironed our clothes and made sure that we had a hot meal before we left for school. Not only that, she packed lunches
for all six of her children and made sure that our hair was combed, and the crust was out of our eyes before we went out of the door.

She was an uneducated woman who had many talents. Not only was she the best cook in the world, she also kept her house spotless. We did not have the luxury of running water when I was growing up as a child. But, my mother would get up early each morning, pump and prime the old pump in the backyard, and make sure that she had enough water to cook and clean with. She received many compliments about how clean her house was, and how clean that her children were. She knew how to hold her peace and not say a word whenever my Dad was in a bad mood. On the same note, she knew how to clear that house whenever she decided to speak her mind.

My mother did not use profanity. She is the only person in my world who I can truly say, that I have never heard a cuss word come from her mouth. She would not even repeat a cuss word that someone else had said. But, my mother could lay a tongue lashing upon you that made you feel like you had been cussed out, beat up and beat down by one of the best. She never held a grudge. She spoke her peace and moved on. I love her dearly.

One of my fondest memories of my mother was when I was only about four or five years old. I can remember watching her cook and clean while everyone else was either in school, or working. She hummed and prayed alot. Sometimes, she would have tears running down her cheeks. Many times, she knelt beside her bed and just wept. I often wondered why she was so sad. I realized when I became an adult that she was not a sad woman at all. She was just a praying, God fearing, soap opera ,loving Mom.

She watched "Another World" and "The Doctors" and "Days of Our Lives" religiously. We were not allowed to talk while her "stories were on". She would sit in front of our television, folding clothes, shelling peas, or rolling up dough for a pan of biscuits, and watch Julie and Doug at the same time. When "The Edge of Night" came on, dinner was ready for her children to eat as soon as they walked in the door from school.

My mother had it going on, and I didn't have sense enough to know it. She stayed at home and took care of her family. My father came home and handed her his pay check. She was the most loved, and feared member of our large family. She did not play with anybody. Everybody knew that she meant business and not to play with her.

My mother loved her children. The only times that I can ever recall her being angry enough to fight anybody was whenever they messed with her children. Once, she caught a ride with a neighbor who had just suffered a stroke, to go to the school and jack up the principal who made my brother walk home from school. Needless to say, none of us were mistreated by that principal ever again. As a matter of fact, my mother placed the fear of God in him so deeply, until this principal began to give us lunch money whenever we needed it. That is the solid truth.

My mother passed away softly and peacefully in her sleep almost ten years ago. I can still see bits and pieces of her each time that I look in the mirror . I hear her voice sometimes when I am discipling my children. I can still feel the warmth of her love each time that I cook a "mean roast" for my family. Each time that one of my children embrace me and tell me how much they love me, I can feel her love. This is how she has taught me to be, a loving, fearless, Godfearing Mom. I can do without those soap operas though. My life is so much different from the life that my mother lived. The Soap Opera's were her
pleasure and way of escape.

Sometimes I miss her just like she had just passed away on yesterday. I can always reach backinto my heart and remember the love that she gave to all eight of her children down through the years. It was such a blessing to have her in my life for the many years that she was there.

If you still have a God-fearing, Soap Opera loving Mom, you are truly blessed.

(c) 2007 by Janice M. Chambers