Thinking of Mom this week as the 13th of June would have been her 81st birthday ~ hard to believe! Born in 1938 she was the epitome of style to me when I was growing up. Here she is in her late 40’s or early 50’s.
In photographs from when she was in high school during the 1950’s, “Ginny” always looked so fashionable! Often wearing lovely poodle skirts, Peter Pan collars and soft angora sweaters and saddle shoes so in style in the post-war era of the 1950’s…
In photographs from when she was in high school during the 1950’s, “Ginny” always looked so fashionable! Often wearing lovely poodle skirts, Peter Pan collars and soft angora sweaters and saddle shoes so in style in the post-war era of the 1950’s…
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| My mom and dad ~ he was 28 and she a young 21. |
I know I have shared this photograph with you before of my parents from 1959, but it is worth sharing again. My mother, Virginia Mary Blades, looked so beautiful wearing her older sister Eleanor’s wedding dress here.
Something borrowed, something blue…
Later on Mom looked like a fashion plate as her style mirrored that of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who was then First Lady in the White House when I was born.
Somewhere there is a photo of my mother and myself where Mom is wearing her cat-eye glasses and a sleeveless summer blouse. She is holding me in her arms resting against her knees… Maybe playing “Trot trot to Boston…”
The backyard was probably at their first house in Centerville, Ohio (Dayton area). If I find it later, I will place it here.
🙂
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| Part of my mother’s collection: lavender jade with diamonds on either side in white gold, the wedding ring my father gave her in 1959, and smoky topaz from Taiwan when Dad brought home several “parure” (sets of jewelry including four pieces or more). |
Mom’s jewelry…
These next few photographs I took a year ago but never shared… Partly for insurance documenting, partly because my father bought beautiful pieces for my mother and carried them back from several TDY trips as a JAG for the US Air Force, I wanted to share some of Mom’s lovely jewelry.
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| Here is the parure I inherited as I always loved Mom’s lavender jade bracelet, ring and necklace. I didn’t share the earrings. The 14k gold bracelet looks like little twigs stacked up when you see it up close. |
When my mother passed, after her funeral my sister-in-law Linnea brought out all of Mom’s jewelry that Mom had given her as payment for redoing a bathroom which had a leaky roof and need ed the tile flooring redone.
My brother Gene and Linnea felt that we should all share it, so pieces went to both of our daughters (Mom’s granddaughters) and some to us daughters. My father had brought me the gold bracelet earlier when he was out on a business trip after retiring from the Air Force. It is beautiful and heavy weighing in at 3 oz. gold.
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| Our Amy, whose 27th birthday was two days ago. She was my mom’s birthday present in 1992. 😉 This photograph was taken at the Carlsbad Caverns, NM, 2016. |
Dad’s love language was gifting sparkly presents to my mother and Mom loved the beauties he would buy for her! She wore them to parties they attended the whole time we lived in Hawaii. Later she wore them to other parties in California and to the theater where Dad performed (his hobby).
Once I borrowed the lavender jade ring and wore it one day to high school as I loved it and it called to me ~ then I was so terrified I would lose it, I put it inside my wallet in my locked locker in my backpack and rushed it home after school to get it safely back in her jewelry box before she got home from her teaching position in Sacramento.
I never did that again, let me tell you!
🙂
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| A photo of my mother during her high school days ~ posted by one of our relatives through Ancestry.com. She is 2nd row, plaid skirt. |
Mom looked like a fashion plate when I was young as her style mirrored that of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who was then First Lady in the White House. It was the era of Camelot, after all…
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| My brother Frank out in the front garden ~ he lived in the house until it was sold in 2010. |
This was my parents’ last home ~ Situated on 12 acres with a 1/2 acre pond in Southbury, Connecticut, it was a lovely place!
My parents enjoyed watching the local wildlife from their kitchen table. Small herds of deer, wild turkeys eating bugs out in the meadow that my father then later my brother Frank would keep mowed. They spent $150 a month on just birdseed, my father mentioned one time, keeping the seeds in large metal trashcans in their garage.
Now black bear occasionally come through the area as my youngest brother and his wife share photos from their property just next door.
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| My mother Ginny, circa 1971-1974. |
Recently I shared this photograph of my mother for a Mother’s Day post. She must have been about 35 years old in this photo taken when she was beginning her teaching career at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Last year I featured my mother-in-love Mary Virginia Fudge and my grown children who came down the week before for a visit.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this little break away from decor and gardens to meet more of my family!
Happy birthday, Mom \|”/
Love meeting your family through your post, Barb! Your mother sounds like she was a true model. I have never seen lavender jade – it's beautiful! Happy belated birthday to your daughter. How lovely that she shares your mom's day.
Barb, this is such a sweet post about your beloved and beautiful mom. My precious mother would have been 87 on June 11th. She passed away twelve years ago and there isn’t a day that I don’t miss her. Hugs to you and thank you for sharing your family wit( us.
Such a wonderful post about your mom. Us girls love our moms. When we marry that relationship evolves into something even more amazing. I miss my mom every day. She passed when I was 26 and we became best friends. I saw her 4 days a week with many phone calls in between. You love your mom like I do mine. Mine was a fashion plate too. The memories are precious moments. Cindy
Thank you, Rita! Hugs,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Pam… Missing our moms… Always bittersweet, isn't it? Thank you for sharing about your mother. <3Blessings to you,Barb 🙂
Hi Cindy, I am so sorry your mom passed away at such a young age, for you and for her! I was blessed that my mom was here until I was 42. My dad passed when I was 35. Both died at age 66, way before I expected them, but we get just the little time we get with them, don't we? Thank you for sharing about your mother,Hugs and blessings to special memories,Barb 🙂