Here's To You Mom!

I wrote this post last year on my Mom's birthday. Today my Mom would have been 84 years old. This is my blog post from last year.

My mom, "Johnnye Merle Durham Moore" would have been 83 years old today! She's been gone now about 4-1/2 years. Died a few days after Riley was born. Pissed me off at first, you know, your first grandbaby is born and then your mom dies, dandy! I quickly realized though that she hung on long enough just to know her first grandchild made it into the world safe and sound!She was born in Lubbock, Texas to my grandparents, Hobson and Madge Durham. They sadly died before I was born. Never got a chance to know them. My mom and her family eventually moved to Temple, Texas where she went to school and grew up. I always remember the stories she told me about the Depression and what it was like in Texas. She lost her dad at 15 years old. He drank a bit too much, and sadly committed suicide. Her and her mom were very close, as you can see above in the picture. Not too much longer after my mom's dad died, her mom passed away from cancer. And truth me told, I don't think she ever got over that her entire life. She rarely would talk to me or my sister about it. She eventually met my knuckle headed dad, and for him I know it was love at first sight. Actually, after my mom died, he died less than six months later. He couldn't go on without her. She was his purpose in life! That's me with my folks and a couple of years later my sister was born. My mom was always quiet, didn't talk much, read a lot. I made her insane, I know that. I never, ever stopped talking! After Bryce was born, my mom told me if I had anymore kids she was moving back to Texas. I drove my mom crazy as a kid, so you can only imagine what three grandkids, all born not too far from each other, did to her! Just like the stories she told to me about growing up in Texas, she told my kids the same stories. Brande was able to stop in Temple a few years back. She happened to run into a local historian at the library. He told her the address of her grandma's house, and the restaurant where her great-grandma use to work. My mom's been gone a bit over four years now. Before she passed away, poor health and dementia had set in. So, it's nice to remember today, and the happier times of her life and her stories of her Texas roots. Funny thing how I'm blogging out here in So Cal, yet I have become friends with so many bloggers in Texas. Sometimes things "really" do happen for a reason! Happy Birthday Mom, we all love you!!
In this past year, I found some more old photos, above, of my Mom. She always would talk about gardening to me and my kids, and that is one of the main reasons Brande named the garden & nursery out back at "the store", "Johnnye Merle Gardens & Nursery"! She would talk of how she loved the Texas bluebonnets because, in her words, "you could throw the seeds in the dry, hard, Texas soil and they would still grow and bloom"! Happy Birthday Mom, our family is growing too, just like your bluebonnets! We now have a baby boy, Bo! We are thinking of you today and missing you more than you know!