Her name was Marilyn. She was a liberal.

She was born just prior to the depression to a flower shop owner and his wife. The couple welcomed her into their lives and had her mom's mom live with them to help take care of her. Her mom had lost her own dad at six in the mines and her grandmother had raised her and her brother herself by taking in sewing.

She grew up in New Haven, CT and was an outstanding student in elementary, high school and eventually college. She attended a four year private Catholic girl's school in New Haven on a full scholarship due to her fantastic grades.

I remember her telling me that during the depression, she would often come home to find strangers sitting in the back yard eating food, (that being a loose term, it was usually soup) that her mom had given them. She remarked once that it was a rare day that she didn't find some stranger thanking my Nana for feeding them before they left in desperate search of work.

After graduating third in her class, she married my Dad. She had four children. Me, my three brothers. We lived nicely. My Dad did a wonderful job providing for us and we never wanted.

I think the right wing would probably have called her a liberal elitist. She worked as a librarian prior to marriage and read voraciously. She was instrumental in the construction of a new library in the town where we were raised and it was taken for granted that all of us would continue our educations by going to college for which they would pay. We were constantly told to read, listen, educate to try and make a better world.

She was a devout Roman Catholic. She believed in the sanctity of the Church, in marriage and sacraments. She also believed that the Church had no right to discriminate against homosexuals, being one of the few of her generation who believed that homosexuality wasn't a sin or a choice, but a biological occurence. She despised bigots. She called where she was in life a 'biological accident', and railed against those who sought to discriminate based on station in life.

She worked tirelessly for social justice. I remember as she was getting older, and my dad's health failing feeling so worried when she would get a call from a young mom who was out of diapers or formula. These calls often came at night, so she would get out of bed, get dressed and meet these desperate folks at Stop and Shop to provide them with another month's worth of necessities. The Church had a social justice committee that she was in charge of, but she often didn't submit the receipts, and she often didn't disclose whom she had helped because there were some members who thought some of these women were 'double dipping', in other words going from church to church for help.

My mom didn't care. She said to me once that if you were desperate enough to call the church for help, the help should be given no questions asked. It was humiliating enough to stand there and ask, a person needed to keep their pride.

The lessons she taught us have shaped who I am. I got married, moved away, had a family. I ran the food pantry at my church and when I got the requisite lecture on the 'double dippers', I just smiled, nodded and remembered my mom's words.

She was appalled at what happened to her Church and her Country. I talked to her three times a day, usually and she would always start with 'did you see what that fool did today?' That fool being George Bush. We would rant about how awful he was, and how awful the right wing was for quite a while before moving on to family news and such.

She died the way she lived, peacefully. In her sleep. Which was wonderful for her, terrible for us. After her death, the Church we all attended as kids and from where she was buried erected a marble bench in her honor and yearly awards a parishioner with an award in her name for her work with social justice. I am so proud of her.

She was a liberal. If living your life to help others in need makes you a liberal, count me in. And, if being a liberal makes you bad in the eyes of the republicans, double count me in.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I miss you.

You shared so eloquently. I'm sure your Mom would be very proud of you today and always. Your memories will keep her alive in your heart always.

:hug:

aA
kesha.

You have shared her so that she shines quite vividly in my eyes. Thanks for posting.

Very nice. :hug:

You surely seem grateful to have a mom like her.

Nicely written story, thanks for sharing.

:hi:

What a beautiful story.....and you tell it so very well!

I am extremely touched by it, and by you......:hug:

:hug:

Your mom sounds a great deal like my own mother, including the religious roots. Kicked and recommended. :hug:

Thank you for introducing us to this wise, wonderful and inspiring woman.

I'm so sorry she is gone.

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you. :hug:

Sounds like she was a great woman. (As was mine, and I miss her too!) Recommended. :hug:

K&R for your Mom, and for Moms everywhere.

You heartfelt story moved me. I believe it is safe to say that she is still alive in the legacy she left behind, which is you. Obviously she not only talked the talk, but walked the walk, in her beliefs. And from this you are able to see the world through a different perspective that so many lack.

I appreciate the fact that you reminded me of what being a liberal is all about. The whole idea of being liberal has been so skewed by the right wing in our country. I believe it is important for us to find a way to reclaim the it's definition. Stories like the one you wrote of your wonderful mother is a positive step in that direction.

tribute. Happy Mother's Day!

Jenn

She left a very special footprint in this world.

If I may ask: when did she pass away? It sounds like she died recently. (You might have posted about it, but if so, I have since forgotten.)

And I'm sure that your mother thanks you as well.

I'm sure she's Up There telling everyone else what a great writer (and daughter) her daughter is.

This is one of the best posts I've ever seen on DU. I mean that.

Redstone

And inspiring for you and us all.

Thank you for sharing her story and your tribute to her with all of us. She sounds like she was a really gutsy and genuinely kind lady, one that any of us would have honored to know.

Happy Mothers Day to your mom. And Happy Mothers Day to you too! :pals:

This is a lovely tribute to your mother. Thank you. :thumbsup:

:hug:

But your post was worth it. Your Mother deserves to be remembered. :)

BTW, you have beautiful kids so you too should be a proud mom today as well!

:hi:

all of us were so blessed. I knew growing up that other people had mothers that showed them affection; something my sister and I never had. I only think of the bad things on Mother's Day now.

I'm not going into detail because your post was a celebration of your mother's life. Like I said you were blessed to have such a wonderful mother. I, too, tell myself (after reading your tribute) that I am blessed because we still have momma with us . . . Dad too.

I cannot imagine losing either parent and going on, no matter what the past holds. They are my parents and I will love them no matter what and no matter where. We forgave them as we got older; however, it's hard to forget some things in this life.

Your mother sounds like one of those "Kennedy Women." I saw a documentary on MSNBC regarding the "Kennedy Women" and how giving they were and how their children were everything to them. Your tribute to your mother reminded me of this documentary because it sounded like your mother was tireless. She probably ran circles around you???

Yes, you are blessed to have had a wonderful mother and she is blessed, and I'm sure so proud of all of her children and grandchildren.

Looks like you are a mom too, sooooooooooo Happy Mother's Day Marilyn.

Happy Mothers Day to you, and to the memory of your mom, who sounds like she was a very special lady. :hug:

Thanks for the wonderful story...must be the Mother's from
New Haven all learned the same thing...mine lived on Orange St.
near the Base of East Rock and I spent many years visiting the
home of my grandmother who was the one that gave my mother the
same values as your mother. Like my mother, I am a giver as you
are...I think we got this virtue by our devout Catholic mother's
and it carried over into being Liberal Democrats. We are the
people that care for others and that will always be.

Bless you this Mother's Day and perhaps our New Haven Mother's have
met in their heavenly reward and I am sure they are both watching over
us and our families. O8)

Moesie

:toast:

Your mother sounds like a profoundly wonderful and beautiful woman -the kind who makes the world a better place just for being in it. And, she raised you, a wonderful, kind and compassionate person and that is another testament to her legacy. That was a beautiful tribute Midlodemocrat. May your mother rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are also with you on this day as you remember your mother.

This is the first mother's day without my grandmother as well. Your tribute made me think of that fact and of how much I still miss her and my grandfather too

God bless her and your family for keeping strong. If only all people were like your mother...

:hug:

your mother was, Midlodemocrat. A beautiful tribute. :hug:

your mother was!! A shining example for not only for her children, grandchildren, and generations yet to come, but for the rest of us as well!

:loveya: :hug:

A beautiful tribute to your Mother and a great gift to all of us. She has lessons for us all.

My mother is almost in her 80s now, & the thought of her passing away scares me to death. So your post made me cry. I'm sure that it was tough for you to lose your mother. I just don't know what I'm going to do when my mother is gone. I guess it gets easier after awhile, but I fear those first few months.

Tammy

...typing this. Stopping to wipe tears and all that. God bless your mother and the son she raised. And to kell with the vermin in the WH that contributed to making her final years even the least bit unpleasant.

I’d bet she feels equally as proud of you.

Your mom sounds like a really special woman.

Thank you for this. What a wonderful lady...

a bit of my mom, and my grandmother, both of whom regularly helped those who went door to door asking for help.

My Grandmother told stories of the people who asked for help, she always gave them sandwiches, letting them sit on the steps of her Minnesota farm house. Often she gave them an extra sandwich for the road. She said they almost always offered to do work for the food. She told of a man who had only one arm who offered to do work for food. She gave him the food, but told him there was no need to do work. Later she heard a noise in the farm yard, she looked out to see the man chopping wood. She never said anything bad about these men, she only sounded sad.

what a cool woman your mom was, Midlo. :hug:

You seem like a very nice lady. I think we live in the same neighborhood, we should get together. My nephew is staying with us this summer while he interns with the state Democratic party. My wife would certainly like to meet likeminded people in the neighborhood.

:cry: Thank you for letting us meet her this way! :hug:

Thanks for writing that.

Your mama is undoubtedly proud of the woman you have become. :hug:

True love NEVER dies....:loveya:

their stories are remarkably similar...with the exception that my mother grew up in rural north east texas. she was a Roosevelt democrat and a LBJ fan until the end. we had similar calls and visits...thats all i can write...i am still not over it...miss you nan.....rp

Coincidentally, my Dad is from Groton, CT. I remember going to visit my grandparents (driving up in the Sports Suburban station wagon), and going to the "Stop and Shop" and "Shop Rite." I also remember Caldor and this quaint store called Railroad Salvage.

Small world, eh?