I'll always Love my Mama

Marion Elizabeth Matthews Bruce taught me many unforgettable life lessons. Lessons I’ve shared with my four children and four grandchildren. The woman I called Nana set a formidable foundation for who I was and would become. As a timid, shy bookworm, I needed direction and parenting from a woman who proved to be a force to be reckoned with on any occasion. There was one spectacular lesson that resonated throughout my adult years. When I was a young teen, she told me that I should always work hard to achieve everything I want in life on my own... that everything else given to me would be extra. I live my life following that especially important doctrine. The message helped me at the time when women were struggling to attain both career success as well as success as a wives and mothers. I always I believed if I were the best woman, I would be a better wife and mother. In the 70s, most businesses were determined to keep women in a tight financially closed box. A place where we were unable to purchase cars, homes, appliances, and other possessions without the assistance and consent of a man, mainly a husband. In my personal desire to purchase those things, I found opposition from various companies. They all presented one probing question--- where is your husband? So, I spent a lot of time against the wall until I decided to marry for love and approval from the men who believed that my mother's advice was unwarranted. Most of the lessons I learned from my mother were unspoken. I watched her form a strong romantic relationship with my stepfather. She always took the time to take care of his well-being. She would wash and iron his clothes. She would cook his meals while she worked and made the time to spread her love throughout the family of a husband and six children. Another lesson learned from my mother involved her love of cooking. She always prepared delicious home cooked meals and when I got older, I learned how to cook and make the same meals just by standing by her side in the kitchen. The one thing I never learned to do was clean and gut fish. So, after I married, I continued to bring fresh fish to my mother's house so she could cut off the heads and scrape off the scales. She also showed me how to bake and at the early age of 13 I was making fancy Lady Baltimore cakes. No easy task. I became the family birthday cake baker and continued to bake cakes for everybody's birthday until I passed the baton to my baby sister who abandoned the cake baking for the more prestigious baking experience--- the family Christmas cookie baker for the family. The tradition still stands today. One of the more important lessons my mother taught me was how to maintain loyal friendships. She always had a multitude of coworkers, friends, relatives, and neighbors who respected and cherished her kindness and generosity. This lesson taught me how to care and respect people in all aspects of my life whether it be career, church, work, and other social engagements. Ultimately, the best lesson my mother taught me was how to be a grandmother. When I talked to my children about their grandmother, they always expressed the caring they received from her. She would fix them lunches including delectable sandwiches that she had never even prepared for me. She had them watching her favorite soap operas and engaging in other hobbies she enjoyed. These lessons taught me how to be a better wife, mother, friend, neighbor, co-worker and above all a better grandmother. Thank you, Nana, for the love, life lessons and for everything else you’ve given to me and our family.