Mom and Dad by Loretta

[Editor's Note: This story was written by Loretta]

In growing up, I’ve always wondered how Mom a Dad ever got together. Their personalities were completely different. I guess, opposites do attract.

Mom was easily angered but once it was over, it was forgotten. Dad was, to my way of thinking, a pacifist or buffer.

“Family is important,” he would say. “You never close the door.”

I guess, you can say, I have a little of both. I'm stubborn, like my mother. Caring and loving as she was, she didn’t like falling into the same hole twice. I too, stay away from the same holes.

Mom and I were both born in May - the month of the Bull and Dad in January – month of the twins: Aquarius. It's become a habit with me, I’ll ask what month someone was born and compare them to others that I know. You’d be surprised how alike some folks are.

Mom and I were looking at some pictures and one was of two nuns. I asked her, who they were and that they looked mean. Mom's reply was that they were the most caring two people she ever knew. And that was one of the few times I can remember when she talked about her childhood.

Before mom was 21 she ran off and got married. My grandmother found her and had the marriage annulled then sent her to a convent. She also sent aunt Louise (my mother's sister) to the convent.

One of the requirements at the convent was daily mass. Well, mom had always gone to church on Sundays when she lived at home but apparently she didn’t pay attention to the sermon in Latin. One day, at the convent, she was sitting in church and thought she heard the priest say: “Damn it, give me a biscuit!” She couldn’t contain her laughter and had to leave the church.

Other than that, she never really talked to us very much about living at the convent or how long she lived there. I do know my mother had her name changed from Orilla Sophrona Fleener to Rita Marie Fleener when grandma no longer had control of her.

When mom was around 26 or 27 she ran off again this time to marry my dad. Grandma was furious and said it wouldn’t last and no good would come of it.

Well, it lasted for five kids, 35 years and lots of ups and downs until her death in 1967.

Orion and Taurus