Memories of My Mother

This story is my first, and I’ve never written anything before, other than personal letters. So, please keep this in mind, as you read. I am writing this in response to “What’s Your Funniest Holiday Memory.”

Although it wasn’t a national holiday, it is my funniest family memory, as an adult. My family was celebrating my Mother’s 70th birthday. She was an amazing woman, who raised us with the traditional southern Christian values, and she was the backbone of our entire family. Our father had been out of the picture for years, and she was all we had.

I am the youngest of four girls, and we were all there to celebrate. My mother, three sisters, our husbands, our children, and their children, were all squeezed into one of my niece’s homes together for this happy day. My niece had decorated the house with streamers, balloons, “Happy Birthday” signs, and there on the table was a huge beautiful birthday cake. It was a surprise party for my mother, and surprised, she was! She didn’t stop smiling the whole day.

We gathered around her cake, as best we could, as there were so many of us it was quite crowded. After she made her wish and blew out her candles, we all sang her the “Happy Birthday” song, the cake was cut and served. Following this tradition, it was now time for her to open her birthday presents. This is where it gets funny.

My mother was a very small southern Christian woman, with a wonderful sense of humor, and was always a lady in every sense of the word. She was opening her gifts, and whenever she finally got to one small gift, she opened it, only to find a G-string inside. Someone had given her this, as a joke. She was quite surprised, and not knowing what it was, she began asking what this thing was, exactly. When my niece explained to her that it was like panties and all the young girls were wearing them now, she took this surprise a step further. She then put this G-string on over her clothes and cheerfully modeled it for us all. We couldn’t believe it! Like I said, my mother was very small and she looked so funny parading around with this thing on. We all laughed so hard, herself included.