Tale of a Mother.

During this Mother’s Day week I want to pay tribute to my mother, Ruby Lee Spencer. She was born in Fort Ord, California on July 3rd, 1971. She was the youngest of three children born to Harry and Erma Spencer and she had one older brother named Harry and one older sister named Lana. In her adult life she had three children, Rudy, Joe, and Kindal and they no doubt have some of the fondest memories of her.

When I think about my mother Ruby Lee, I not only think about how she raised me and took care of me, but also how she is the greatest friend I have ever had. From the time I was a baby she kept me close to her. Since birth, nightmares were a curse to me and I had them on a regular basis. I can remember many nights as a baby waking up because I had a bad dream and she would be right there to comfort me. The best memory I have of this is when I was just 2 years old one night shortly before Christmas, I had a bad dream and she came and picked me up out of my bed, brought me down to the living room, sat me on the couch and let me watch while she was decorating our Christmas tree that she had just put up with the sound of the song “My Life” from Mary J. Blige playing in the background. Memories of her like these are definitely some of the greatest I’ll ever have.

My mother Ruby Lee was a unique soul and a free spirit. Her love of music and the way she listened to it is something that resonates with me and my sisters to this day. If you were at my house during a morning of productive cleaning, an afternoon of relaxation, or an evening of some good dinner being cooked, then you heard my mother’s stereo volume on one hundred with the sounds of music from Bob Marley, Seal, and Snoop Dogg among many other artist who were her favorites, playing so loud that it could be hear throughout the entire neighborhood. This same music was played in the car on the many road trips she took us on when we went to places like Virginia Beach, Myrtle beach, and Tennessee, during spring and the summer.

When I think about my mother’s favorite hobbies I remember how she loved to exercise and went to the gym often. When I was diagnosed with asthma at 8 years old, the doctors told her that walking and exercising would be good for my lung health, so she eventually bought a treadmill to put in the house for both of us to exercise with. If you were to ask what was my mom’s idea of relaxation me and my sisters would tell you that it was reading a book, while eating a million bags of sunflower seeds and drinking a twelve pack of Diet Pepsi. What was funny to us when we were young was she would make us bring home books to read in front of the whole family and while she was listening to us read she was reading another book herself. As much as my mother loved reading she also loved writing and she would write many letters to her family and friends on a regular basis and keep any letters that someone had given her stored away.

Having a strong sense of healthy morals and knowledge of self were of the utmost importance to my mom, so she had her own personal bible study with me and my sisters weekly and took time out of every year for us to learn about our heritage and history. Part of that sense of self that she focused on the importance of was shown in the relationship she always made sure we kept with family. When she took us to visit my family in California over the holidays and the summer, we saw purest form of what she was made of and why she was as beautiful inside and out as she always was.

Though my mother passed away when I was 17 years old, I have a thousand years worth of amazing memories of her. From walking me to school, to coming to my class to have lunch with me, joining me on field trips, watching her look at me with a smile for no reason just because, writing embarrassing love notes on my lunch, watching movies with her all the time as a family and waiting for her to get home from work and being excited about what she was gonna cook. I am always and forever thankful for the greatest friend I have ever had, my mother, Ruby Lee Spencer.

Dedicated to my amazing mother, Ruby Lee. Your spirit flows through me forever.