Mom and "Fashion Frocks"~

~~

Recently I posted this picture of my sister and me on FB as my profile picture!  :) 

I like to change my pictures there often and it's usually without a predetermined idea or plan... I just go looking in my family pictures! I'm often drawn to the Way Back times of our lives. It was that way with this picture change.

Seeing the picture again brought back memories of those little dresses we were wearing! We didn't have a lot in those times so I suppose that's why I remember this so vividly! They were both of a cotton  material. 

(Cotton Pi cay???...

I know that's not the correct spelling...:(    )

My dress was a combination of white and aqua and my sister's was, mostly, baby blue. Mom always managed somehow to get pretty things for us - bless her!

OK-Remembering our dresses of this time brought back memories of our mom  selling dresses for a company called "Fashion Frocks." It was one of those deals where you could sell merchandise to family and neighbors and friends from your home! You would be supplied with  catalogs and sample swatches of the clothing materials to show your customers. It seems like Mom was into this for quite some time and I remember her being involved in this from the mid 40's....when I was very young.  I liked looking through those books and being able to feel the material of the dresses pictured. Mom would sometimes use some of the money she made with the sales to buy herself a new dress.

I'm not sure if this company carried childrens clothing, though; so I'm not sure where Mom bought these dresses for my sister and me!

I looked up Fashion Frocks online and found a lot of info is out there about this company that came wandering back into my memories today!  Check out the link!

  Notice the size of the women's waists-and the lengths of their legs in these illustrations!  LOL

To this day I have never been able to  reach the status that would qualify me as some folks idea of what a woman is supposed to look like!  Have you?  ;) - OK-In my youth I DID have a small waist....but everything else was small too ....so I guess that didn't count for much!  :)  At my tallest I was barely over 5 ft tall!  :)

Mom, too, was a little lady...but always beautiful!  

This is my mom and dad in 1950.

This is my mom and me in 1972. 

Love,

Junie

Thinking of my mom and my dad

~~~

This is in the little garden spot I have made for Mom in my back yard.  The rose bush I have planted there is blooming!

Isn't it strange how the sorrow never leaves you after losing a loved one ~ your mother or father ~ a child ~ a lover? Losing anyone close to you, no doubt is hard!

I have only experienced losing my mom and dad of the ones closest to me.
(Oh-many others who I loved dearly I have lost also... and it always hurts)

We lost Dad at a much too young age (59)and at a time when I was a young wife and mother and immersed in that all consuming role. Of course it hurt terribly, just the same...and through the years I've felt a sadness that he never knew some of his grand kids; only one of my three kids were old enough to remember him.(Chis was 4-Tammy was 1 and Tina came 2 months after Dad's passing!)

  We had Mom another 40 years, to age 94! (Mom knew her Great-Grands and even some Great-Great Grands!) All those years and memories are added on...Somehow it makes it harder~not that my daddy wasn't loved as much as Mom...but I think my circumstances when Dad left us and the time of my life that I was in ~ my age (23) ~ sort of served as a cushion between me and my grief.

Truth be told, though, I often dream of both my parents~(Dad having been gone almost 47 years...and Mom will be 8 years in Jan 2011!)

And even though the memories and dreams make me sad I'm glad I have them.

After seeing the stepping stone in the garden today Mom has been in my thoughts more than usual. Here are some of the little things of her's  that I have on a shelf in my family room.

Mom and her 5 'kids!'
The doves were hers.

I gave Mom this when Charles and I were first married!

Mom had this fascination of exotic places- especially Hawaii-not that she ever traveled to any of them. I was happy when I found this little plate for her, many,many years ago!

She donated to this organization (Salesian missions) for a  very long time and  loved these little books  of inspirational poems.  She gave us these all through the years...I have many among my poem books but this one was in her room and it ended up here with a few  of her other things.

A gift from my mom to me.

Our Family

(Love you always, Mom and Dad)

Junie

Remembering Daddy again!

~~~

....Not that we can ever forget our dad-no matter how many years go by...

It's been almost 47 years since Daddy passed on and I still sometimes dream of him!

Always loved you Daddy-always will!

(Click on pics to enlarge)

~related post here~

This church was started by my great-grandfather  (my Mom's family)

June

Mom's Night Blooming Cactus

This post is taken from one of my other blogs...It belongs here too, because Mom always loved these flowers!

~~ I remember when we were living in south Florida (Perrine) there was a big old Estate place by the water that was overgrown with these exotic flowers. The property, of course , was fenced but these flowers were growing up into the towering trees and the rock wall that enclosed the place! Mama and Daddy would go for rides late at night , just to see these flowers! It was something very special, as these well established vines bloomed abundantly in that jungle-like setting!~~

...The main reason I want to ALWAYS have some of this plant growing...

~~~

first posted here:

http://ourplace-junierose2005.blogspot.com/2009/09/night-blooms.html

Night blooms

Late Night Blooms


Late last night I remembered I had 2 blooms that were due to be opening on my night blooming cactus plant. I always try to catch these, if possible, because they only bloom at night and are gone by early morning.I remembered to check them just before going to bed last night-past mid-night! (almost missed them)

There are only a few blooms on each plant each blooming season so it's a challenge for me to watch these plants closely and NOT miss the blooms! I DID miss the first 3 this year! :(

This was one of my mom's favorites so the blooms always bring back sweet memories of her... This is one of the things she and I enjoyed together- all through the years!




~~~
I wrote about these flowers recently and linked to a website that tells all about these flowers, if interested.

(post link below)

http://juniesplace.blogspot.com/2009/09/todays-flowers-sept-20-2009.html



Junie

Flowers for Daddy!

***
Every year we go to Alabama in early August for my husband's family reunion...

... and I also have the time to take flowers to my dad's grave.


It's been so many years now since he left us!
It was much too early...
It seems strange to realize that I am now almost 10 years older than Dad was when he left us!

Always in our hearts, Daddy...


Love,
June

Daddy~

I am remembering Daddy today~~~over this vast time span of 44 years!

Daddy died much too young at the age of 59 years. There's always been a special kind of sadness in remembering him~ a feeling that he missed out on so much.

But~ love stays with us forever!


This photo is probably 1954-55

Daddy with my little sister and me~ and a nephew. This was in Perrine, Florida.

(click to enlarge)


Love,

June