Mom had a wonderful sense of humor - she loved to laugh, and to share that laughter with others - life as a result was full, indeed...
Mom had a strick code around humor - she wouldn't tell an off-color joke, or one that used profanity or negative racial images....when one of her kids told one and caught her by surprise and she'd chuckle, she was very hard on herself for having laffed - her usual comment: "Oh, David...!"
Mom's treasure was in her heart - money was inportant only because of what it could do to further her heart's desires, but in itself was unimportant - the values of graciousness, sincerity, decentness, and generosity were her coin of the realm - treasures that can be forfeit, but not taken from one...
"In 1947, I was 10 years old, in a hospital for crippled children, with the results of Polio. A roommate and I sent in clothing designs for 'Aunt Fritzie' in the Archie Comic Books. The editor printed our design and suggested that readers write to us. I received over 500 letters, and my father responded to each of them! Ann was one of the few that answered his letter, and we wrote to each other all these years! She would answer my letters within a week after she received them. I always marveled at how quickly she got those letters of love and encouragement to me in such a short time! Especially if I were having another surgery or going through a tough time. I always wished she were here to give me a hug, but I always felt in my heart that her letters were her way of hugging me..."
- Excerpt from a letter from Ohio pen pal, Marilyn J. Pressnell, dated April 10, 2000 - read during the memorial service at the author's request... |
Mom was remarkable - she wasn't a feminist, and would probably have rankled at the term - she was, however, everything that exemplified the highest that any individual could become, man or woman - she was a wife, a mother, a farmer's wife and a farmer in her own right - she led a Cub Scout Den for years, served as the president of the PTA, and of the Women's Society of her local church...
Mom worked from sun up to sun down, and had energy left over to prepare meals for the family, mend clothes when people used to do that sort of thing, and can peaches, apricots, and berries - she drove the tractor, and our semi-tractor and trailer, and helped in the building of our home by doing all the electrical wiring...