In Memory of My Mother, Mary B.

This lens in in memory of my mother who was born August 16, 1931. She found out she had pancreatic cancer in April 2000. She moved to heaven on April 19, 2001.

I want to give tribute to all that she did for us while she was here on earth. She was a hard worker and raised 4 children. She loved crafting and tried to pass it on to me. Every summer, she would go to Cloud 9 Ranch campground in Caulfield, MO and spend time with learning and doing crafts. We always had so much fun together with our crafting.

I lost a great reservoir of information when my mom passed on.

Photo Source - Personal Photo - Copyrighted by GrandmaMarilyn DO NOT COPY or USE IT This photo is of my mother with my first grandson. I can't seem to find very many photos. I can only find 2 at the moment. I will add more photos as I find more.

Raising 3 Chldren living with my stepfather

My mother worked hard all of her life. She came from a large family of which she was the oldest. She helped with the younger children. Then when she married my father, she had me. I, of course, don't remember what she worked then. I was too small. She divorced my father before I was 2.

My stepfather, who she was with for about 9 years, was an alcoholic and would drink with all the money he could find and then would come home and beat my mother. She would try hiding the money from him but he always seemed to be able to find it. She still managed to keep us fed and in clothes. I remember during this time she had up to 3 jobs just trying to keep a roof over our heads. I know she was a waitress and I think she was a nurses aide during some of this time also.

She had my two brothers with him. She lost quite a few of the babies due to a collapsed uterus.

She would sew dresses for me when she could so that I would have some pretty clothes. I remember once in school we were doing a square dance routine for the parents and she sewed me a lovely dotted swiss dress with red background and white polka dots. It was my pride and joy. When she didn't have the time to sew me clothes, she would either go to the Salvation Army or yard sales. We didn't always like what she found at these places but we did have clothes to wear.

The hummingbird was one of my mom's favorite things to collect. She used to have a hummingbird feeder outside the window to the trailer when she was at Cloud 9. The hummingbirds would flock to her feeders. When you wanted to get a gift for my mom, you knew the perfect gift....something hummingbird.

And life got better

Mom remarried my dad when I was 12. She still had to work but this time it was because it was taking two incomes to keep a house running with 3 children. She worked as a nurses aide and as a waitress sometimes, I think. My dad took her and us 3 children to take care of. One of my brothers asked my dad to adopt him. So my brother, Tony, became a Bingham also.

After I married my first husband, mom, dad and my brothers moved to Virginia, IL where she spent the rest of her life when she wasn't at Cloud 9.

Gladys was one of my mom's best friends. She went to church where my mom went in Jacksonville, IL. She came over and played cards and other games with her. While I was up there, we would all get together and play Skipbo or Phase 10. We used have a great time. We knew when she could no longer come and play cards with us that time was running out.

When my mother became very sick with her pancreatic cancer and dad needed extra help, I would take the day shift taking care of her and Gladys would take the night shift while I was sleeping and getting some rest.

Don't keep putting off getting the special gift for your mom. It could be too late.

The restaurant that mom ran

Back in the 70s, mom and dad opened a restaurant called Mary B's in Virginia, IL. It was very popular. She cooked home style meals at a reasonable price for her customers. Everything except the canned vegetables were fresh. When her and dad adopted my sister, mom would take her to work with her and put her in a drawer as a bed. My two brothers would be the dishwashers when they weren't in school. I wasn't there to help as I was in Nebraska with my first husband raising my family. Eventually, mom and dad closed the restaurant down because of the rising costs of food and not being able to keep the prices down. Mom wanted to spend more time at home with my sister also.

I love getting comments from my readers either good or bad. It shows me that someone is stopping by and reading my articles. If it is bad, then I will correct the fault.