A Tribute to Mom

 

Thank family and friends for coming. Special shout out to Charles and his wife, Melissa, as well as pastor Joe. I also want to thank the nurses and staff at the hospitals and nursing homes who cared for mom over the last 3 months. Some of them are true heroes. Lasty, thank wife, Mindy & daiughter, Bella.

Mom’s Story – Unicorns & Rainbows

No one would ever accuse Pauline (mom) of being a Unicorns & Rainbows kinda gal, or someone who sees the cup as half full. Frankly, her knack for seeing the half empty side of things became somewhat of a family meme. Yet despite her pessimistic outlook, mom was a loving mother, a mother that cared for her sons come hell or high water.

I was lucky enough to spend several days with mom over the last few months, and a handful of those before she fell sick when I would head to her new Columbus home in the Eastmoor neighborhood. It was during those visits that I asked mom a lot of questions and documented many of the big rocks in her life story. It was through these visits/interviews that I developed a deeper understanding of who she really was, and perhaps more importantly, why she was who she was.

Pauline (mom) was born to George & Ruth Merrick in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, December 12, 1937. They lived on the west side’s Highland Ave for the first 8 or 9 years of her life. She was a self-described daddy’s girl, and often shared that he was her entire world. She absolutely adored him. But tragically, mom lost her daddy in WW2 when she was just 7.5 years old.

Her recount went something like this:

A knock at the front door caused me to run quickly for a peak at who was there. It was two large, imposing service men. I promptly called for my momma (my grandma) and then quietly dipped behind her legs hiding as grandma slowly opened the door. The news wasn’t good. My daddy was one of 87 seamen lost in what’s now documented as the last major sea battle (operation Ten-Go) of WW2 in Okinawa.  His ship, the USS Bush, sunk after three concurrent kamikaze strikes on April 6, 1945.

That day changed the trajectory of her life for good. It was, and then remained, the saddest day of her life. In fact, when I asked her to share more of her earliest memories from childhood, that’s the only one she could recall.

Sadly, from my perspective, the premature loss of her daddy left her insecure and with low self-esteem for the rest of her days. After her father’s passing life of course moved forward with my grandma ultimately remarrying and even giving mom a little sister, my aunt Linda. She, by the way, was a real piece of work! From that point forward, the familial men in her life could never measure up to her daddy’s love.

During her HS years, mom met dad at Gray Drugs in Central Point where they both held part-time jobs. Their relationship flourished eventually leading to dad asking mom to spend the rest of her life with him. It’s not lost on me that his proposal took place at Grigg’s reservoir, which would later become the center of our world for many happy years as a young family, picnicking, boating and celebrating family birthdays.

Mom & Dad married in 1955, and a few years later (7 to be exact), we were a family of 6, mom, dad, and four boys, all born between 1958-1962. Sadly, after 16 years or so the family dynamic crumbled, and our parents eventually divorced. But not before many, many happy memories were formed.

As the 2^nd of the four boys, I loved our happy, fun-filled, "Beaver Cleaver" life. In my mind we had everything and wanted for nothing. Hell, I thought we were rich! This perspective was supported by lots and lots of super fun times, a loving extended family, and lots of friends.

When I reflect back on these happy memories, mom was central to all of them.

Sharing youthful found memories:

·        Happy Times - Dancing to the Mary Poppins album in the livingroom of Westmoor Place.

 

·        Family dining out/in – KFC, BBF, Georges Coney’s and Maria’s Pizza – Sunday Steak dinners to Englebert and Tom J.

 

·        Church boys - We were Glenwood church boys. Sang in the children’s choir, participated in the Easter bell choir, and even attended summer bible school. It was really fun!

 

·        Lompoc via Amtrak - Not one, but two cross country trips via an Amtrak luxury train (El Capitan’) to Lompoc CA to visit our aunt & uncle. Those trips also included visits to Disneyland.

 

·        The most fashionable clothes.  She never said no to our desire to wear the most fashionable clothes. We took many fun-filled COTA bus trips to downtown Lazarus where I recall picking out my first pair of bell-bottoms, bell-sleeved shirts and love beads. Because of mom’s generosity, we were hands down the trendiest boys at John Burroughs Elem.!

 

·        Uncle Chuck in Vegas - And I’ll never forget our surprise trip to once again visit Uncle Chuck, only this time in Las Vegas (thinking 1973). That’s right, four boys, my mom and grandma piled into her Plymouth Duster and drove from Columbus to Vegas. Do you think Uncle Chuck was surprised when all six of us showed up? 😊

 

·        Family Camping - Sprinkled between all of this were numerous family camping and boating trips to Lake White, days at Kings Island, Cedar Point, the zoo, and trips to the Ohio State Fair where we saw the likes of Sonny & Cher, Bob Hope, 5th Dimension, Osmond Brothers, Smothers brothers and many, many more.  (by the way, one of my favorite memories was watching Dave Merrifield, the guy who would hang by his heels from a helicopter trapeze).😊

 

·        Drive-in Movies - summer evenings mom would load all of us into the family car and take us to the drive-in movies. There we not only saw all the family classics, but also a handful of movies we probably shouldn’t have, like Planet of the Apes, The Godfather, as well as a few torture movies.

 

·        Backyard camp outs - mom was so supportive of our bizarre idea to camp out in the back yard pretty much every night of the summer. She’d happily take us to the Great Western grocery store to stock up on the camping essentials, hot dogs, marshmallows, and soda pop.

 

Sharing Found mom memories from adult life

·        Camping with mom at Deer Creek – Later in life, once I’d built my own small family, I would frequently load up my three girls and all of our camping gear and meet mom at Deer Creek State Park campground for a weekend of fun.

·        Car problems, no trouble - And then there were the few times I got into minor trouble with the law relative to my car. Mom was always there to offer help and support, be it emotional or financial. Believe me, I wouldn’t dare ask dad. 😊

 

·        College – When as a young parent with a blossoming career, I decided that I wanted to go to college, once again, my mom was right there willing to help with an open wallet and emotional support so I could fulfill my dream.

Thanks mom. I love you and will always cherish these memories!