Now....I have a chore.....why is my mother one of my heros? That's hard to put into words......When I moved home in 1992 I found my best friend.....we were so alike in many ways, but so vastly different in many others.

She came out west to get over a broken hart at the end of the war. By the way, she had me do an internet search for her ex-boyfriend. Took me a few days but I found out he was a retired Air Force Colonel living in Georgia. She just smiled and walked away....I think she only wanted to know if he was still alive and had done well.

But enough of that......

Mom always worked hard....long and hard...as they used to say in the west....."from can til can't" and very seldom did she complain about it. To any "Liberated" women out their....not that one would read anything by me.....grin... Mom always described herself as a housewife first.....that's a hoot, because she was a housewife and also put in a good 30 to 40 hours a week at the store (with out pay) and usually had a part time job of "only" 20 or so hours a week!

In spite of this, she almost always had a smile on her face and was everybodies good friend. I think I wrote earlier about her lack of profanity. Not that she was strait laced, just that she was raised to believe that a "lady" didn't swear. Believe me, she was a Lady (notice the capital L?). If you went somewhere with Mom, you darned sure better expect to be with someone that was dressed appropriatly for the occaision....I'm not talking modern day appropriate either! I'd better not get started on that aspect of life.

She always new how to act and behave, no matter what the situation.....she always new how to be pleasant to everyone....not just the people she knew and liked.

Very organized, sometime I will talk about her LISTS...... oh my goodness....

Could keep a secret better than most.....and didn't delight in malicious gossip...

She was a very intelligent person, blessed with a inquisitive mind, and always wanted to learn about new things....

A political junkie, and a real rarity a Conservative Republican that was born and raised in Massachusetts!

In all of the years they were together, I never heard Mom nag at Dad for anything....and take it from this old cynic... that is a real rare gift.

Anyhow, my health being what it is, I'm going to have to cut this short and finish it another time......