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After my father passed away in February of 1966, my mother devoted her life to her two young children ages 9 and 4.  She never dated or wanted to date. Her children and family were her life.  She hated driving and would never take a highway.  If she could get there by back roads she would go! If there were no back roads, it was the Long Island Railroad or a cab!

She loved to shop and did all of our clothes shopping and would bring home bags of clothes for us for us to try on!  She loved jewelry.

I never liked to shop, I did not inherit that gene although my sister and daughter have! Jewelry I used to like but after my mother passed away, my love for jewelry went away just as she did!

My mother loved to cook and bake. It was something we would do together and as I got older would do by myself.  Her chocolate cake was my favorite and always a treat. The recipe came from the Settlement Cookbook and used vinegar to make the milk sour. Sour milk was the secret for making the best chocolate cake!  The cake was never frosted!

My mother introduced me to Broadway and every spring vacation we would go to see a Broadway musical and then to Rumplemeyer’s at the St. Mortitz. I fell in love with Broadway musicals and who could resist Rumplemeyer’s!

My sister and I went to day camp, never to overnight camp and always took cruises in the summer together as a family.  This was a tradition she and my father had started together.  I took my first cruise at 18 months and fell in love with ships, cruises and traveling; something that has stayed with me ever since.

My mother was my best friend.  She was a very strong, beautiful woman. I don’t know if she was an independent woman before my father died but she was after his death.  I got my independence from her!

island venture fam resized

Life soon changed for us as a family once again. Seven years after my father passed away, my mother joined him after a battle with breast cancer in 1973 at the age of 44.

To be honest, I have blocked out much of my childhood, I guess it was one way I could cope and go on.  In future blogs I will share how she lived secretly with her breast cancer.

One Comment

  • Barbara Pech says:

    You have remembered and beautufully retold your happiest and best moments..I remember the shopping, theatre and back roads..it was a sister thing..chocolate cake never had a chance ot be frosted..it never lasted long enough to be…

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