THAT IRISH MOTHER OF MINE

She was small in stature but BIG in spirit, BIG in loyalty,BIG in generosity,BIG in love-she was my Irish mother.

My mother and her sisters emigrated from Ireland early in the 20th century using a relay system. Ellen came first; her savings brought Jerrie; their savings brought my mother, Jane, and together they paid Sarah's passage to America.

After a time spent in various jobs (my mother was a telephone operator who was hired with some misgivings because of her Irish brogue), all of them went into nurses training as their life's work. I am so proud of my two granddaughters who have followed in their footsteps. Mother worked as a nurse until the age of 70. Tough! Caring! Committed! Outspoken!, that was my mother Jane.

Lots of Irish wit passed between the sisters. I can still see them gathering around a “wee cup of tea” and talking a blue streak. A favorite time was “reading the tea cup leaves” in the bottom of the cups (this was before the days of the tea bag). With one sister a youngish widow, and another married late in life, someone could always see the figure of a man in their futures.

Can you describe to others the story of your mother's life? If you cannot, why don' you spend this Mother's Day catching up on her family history ? If you don't do it NOW there may come a time when it will not be available to you.

Thanks.

More, later.