To suggest that Shirley Sanders has "grit" would be an understatement. She raised four children in North Dakota on the border with Canada (without indoor plumbing by the way) while her husband farmed and later took a job with the National Farmers Union.
"It wasn't lonesome. We had lots of neighbors and friends. Of course they weren't close neighbors. Maybe ten miles away. When we 'went to town' we really went to town!"
I met Shirley and her daughter, Becky Koebernick, in a park on the Clive Greenbelt Trail. They were sitting outside enjoying the spring shower that was just starting and that smell that comes with the light rain.
Becky remembers a special event that marked her 80th Birthday:
"It was Mom's 80th Birthday, we all were in Las Vegas. It was a rare event because all of her relatives were together. That doesn't happen often because we're scattered all over the country. Anyway, we were walking along the strip looking at the sights. The people, the buildings, the lights. We walked a long, long way. Every so often we would ask Mom, 'Mom, are you getting tired?' She would say, 'No, No let's keep going!'. The rest of us were exhausted but we couldn't quit until she said so!"
And then there was the gall bladder:
"My sister Kate Earley, who now lives in Cincinnati, was going away to college and Mom and Dad drove her the 900 miles to the school. When they dropped her off Mom gave Kate a tremendous hug. Kate didn't learn until later that Mom had been in pain the entire trip and when she returned to North Dakota she had her gall bladder removed."
While that may be true grit to some, according to Shirley, "That's the way Mom was, "She always took care of us, first."
Happy Mother's Day Shirley!
And...so it goes.
If you have a Mom and Me story I'd be happy to share it with our readers. Send me 300 words or so and a photo! My address is Michael@InsightCubed.com.