Mom and Tia Peg Rediscovered

I mentioned yesterday that Great Aunt, in her belated arrival, arrived with a bunch of pictures of our mother. She received them from mom’s late best friend’s (Tia Peg) daughter, who found them in her mother’s collection. My sister and I were both amazed because my mother adamantly refused to have her picture taken by us. That rule apparently didn’t apply when she was with Tia Peg. I have a lot of difficult memories involving my mother, mainly based on her last few decades when she retreated within herself after the death of my younger sister. These photos brought her back to me and I remembered the countless good times she also filed my life with. Being a working, single mom with four kids is something I stand in awe of. I miss her every day, especially when I’m around the granddaughters wishing they had gotten to know her.

Mom and Tia Peg (l)

One of the enduring aspects of her life and I’m convinced one that kept her going was her friendship with her best friend Peg. They were both nurses at the local hospital and underwent divorces around the same time. Peg quickly became Aunt Peg to us which became Tia Peg when the Favorite Panamanian arrived on the scene. Tia Peg was a fixture around the house and with my mother, especially after all the kids moved out. Before we did, Tia Peg served as a second mom whom we could bring things to that we knew wouldn’t be graciously received by our own. They traveled a lot together and wherever I was stationed I could usually count on seeing them during that time on station.

Going Nautical

Mom Loved the Gardens

Disneyworld Trip

She Had a Great Laugh

And Beautiful Blue Eyes

Tia Peg also spent many hours scouring yard sales with my mom, who was truly addicted to finding, “such a bargain”. They were a true team during the second halves of both of their lives. They bickered a lot but always found the way back to each other. Tia Peg was always part of the family celebrations of birthdays and especially Christmas, where she was an unrepented shaker of wrapped presents, despite my Favorite Son’s best effort to quell. One of my enduring memories from my mother’s funeral was talking with Tia Peg and seeing how profoundly sad she was. She was older than my mother and always thought she would go first. These pictures offered a real trip down memory lane and I want the FBR, BRS, and BR3 to meet their great-grandmother who would have worshipped each of them. So would Tia Peg, who only got to meet the FBR once. These photos are a true celebration of that enduring friendship.

One of their Many Trips to Cape Cod

And to Maine

Back Home on Valley Street

Visiting me at Fort Campbell, KY

Trip to Nova Scotia

Florida

Impossibly Young, Mom in her Thirties

In DC Visiting with Great Aunt & Soxfather, my Son on Top of Statue

Opryland Hotel Nashville

My Youngest Sister's Wedding

Great Aunt and Soxfather Wedding

Our Annual Christmas Pose

A Few Years Later

My Daughter (l) and a Friend Early 1980s

Tia Peg and Soxfather Gone but Never Forgotten

Great Aunt with my Two Kids

Visiting DC

At Great Aunt/Soxfather Wedding

Portland, Maine

Cape Cod

Opryland Hotel

Bye Mom, Love and Miss You

One movie fell in my A-Z effort, a definite keeper: Argo (Goodman/Arkin team priceless, Ar go F--- Yourself!)

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course