This is Mother's Day 2007. I guess we do look something alike, don't we? My son Hyperion had bought us both bears and we are posing on sister Trish's back deck in full Kentucky sun.

My mom was always much stronger than I ever imagined growing up. Until I had children of my own, it never occurred to me how difficult it would be to have your husband gone in ministry all the time, and you left home with four girls and no money. That generation believed firmly that the mom should stay home with the kids, and find ways to live on one salary.

My parents found classy second hand shops, like one in the basement of a church in Columbus. I still remember the nice dresses I found there. Remember, we didn't have Walmart back then, with access to cheap clothes and shoes. Mom's favorite store was Lazarus, in downtown Columbus, but she would wait till they had their huge sales. Their policy was "Lazarus will never be undersold." And buddy, did she ever hold them to it.

My high school years we lived in her old family home in Findlay, Ohio. A farmhouse built in the 1880's, it had the gingerbread on the front porch, the high ceilings, pocket doors and lots of woodwork painted white that are so typical of that era. The green carpet in the front rooms was old and getting bare, with the plain floor boards beginning to show through. I will never forget the day that Mom decided to let us all color the carpet. We found green crayons the right color (don't believe we even had markers back then...probably 1964 or so) and had a ball coloring the bare spots in the carpet. Somehow she made that fun and an adventure, and I don't believe any of us realized we were "poor"!!!

Mom NEVER ONCE grumbled about being left home with the kids while Dad traveled in meetings, coming home every three weeks or so. The call God had placed on my Dad's life affected Mom just as well, and she accepted her part in the plan without complaint. I don't know how she made the money stretch. At that time ministers were not well paid; evangelists were even below them on the salary pole. Somehow she kept us all going, raising us with dignity and self-respect and CLASS. That's the word. Mom had CLASS.

She used the good china and silver on birthdays. She let us choose our very favorite foods for our birthday supper. She arranged surprises or parties behind our back. We always went for ice cream after school concerts; she told us SHE had done the same thing with her folks. Dad missed most of the PTA events and school conferences and concerts; Mom never missed a one. She was a "church widow" for many years, getting the four of us there ON TIME, handing out gum or mints when all four of us reached out our hands to her in the middle of the sermon. Matter of fact, she STILL does that, only it's grand kids too now, reaching out their hands for mints.

I'm realizing how impossible it is to put into words a life of over eight decades, lived totally for God and her family. We all know she prays for us daily, and believes the best for us, one and all. Dad even beat her to Heaven, getting to go when he was only 60. She used to warn him not to go off and die on her, leaving her with all these children. Of course, he didn't pay any attention to her and did the very thing she dreaded. For 25 more years she has carried on without him, doing her duty, faithfully supporting her family and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Mom, Happy Birthday from all of us, your four girls, their husbands, and your 8 grandchildren. We all love you and think you are amazing. And yes, you'll probably outlive us all, God willing.

Labels: Sarah Dorsey

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Name:Marg Marshall

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"Fight discouragement like the very devil himself." ~ Morton Dorsey

(The wisest thing my dad ever told me.)

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