Happy Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day again and it’s appropriate that I write short blog about the mothers in my life. There are four women who I’m going to single out this Mother’s Day – one living and three who have passed on.

I want to start with Patty, my wife, and mother of my two sons. She’s the stable one in our family, not nearly as subject to risk-taking, and craziness as I am. She’s the rock in our household – the person who attempts to straighten out the mess that I, with my impulsive nature, tend to make of things at times. She’s now enjoying being a grandmother, but must spend way too many hours handling the FRPC accounting and editing responsibilities. We’ve been married for 41 years, and have been best-friends since the age of 12. I love you, Patty.

The second women in my life is my own mother, Virginia. She was born a Cornett, the daughter of Neal Cornett and Hazel Feller, on April 18, 1911 in Canon City, Colorado. Yes – in just a few days she would be 99, if she were still living. In her later life she claimed that as she watched the Mt. St. Helen’s ash fall around the house, that she figured that the mountain was celebrating her birthday. But I digress… Mom was adopted at the age of five by her great-uncle and aunt, Fred and Rosa Feller. Mom married twice, losing her first husband, Maynard Claussen, to hodgkin’s disease. They had three children, Neil, Erma and Bev. She married my father, Theodore Canfield Meitzler, on January 1, 1941. My brother, Steve, was born within a couple years. I came along, quite by accident, in 1950. Mom loved flowers and spent most of her life planting seed, and nurturing tiny plants into maturity. As in my own family, mom was the rock of the Ted Meitzler family. While dad was chasing another idea, mom was making sure that the home had some stability to it. Mom passed away at the age of 92, and was loved and missed by many.

The third lady I’d like to mention here is my cousin, Ruth Moses, daughter of Ross Moses, and Elizabeth Meitzler (Dad’s sister). Ruth lived most of her adult life with my folks, coming to live in our home in 1955 when her mother passed away. Ruth struggled with difficult mental problems for many years, and really wasn’t able to live life on her own. However, I remember Ruth as a woman who loved me dearly, and was like a second mother to me. Although I know I was a difficult kid, she put up with me, and I’m thankful for that. Ruth made the best bread. While mom worked in the greenhouse, Ruth made the meals (usually under mom’s direction – mom was still the boss-lady).

The fourth and final lady I will write a bit about is my mother-in-law, Neta Hanna Daffern. Folks may make all kinds of derogatory remarks about mother-in-laws, but I certainly can find no fault with mine. She was a wonderful lady who got excited about genealogy at about the same time that I did. She helped us start and operate Heritage Quest for a number of years, often with no pay, but just in an attempt to help out. I loved that woman a lot, and think of her often.

So there we have just a few inadequate words about four important women in my life. If it wern’t for the women, us guys would spend most of our time in some kind of trouble…

Now I must get things prepared here, as the boys and their families are coming over for a celebration of sorts this afternoon, and I’m to make the potato salad – mow the lawn – etc., etc.

Happy Mother’s Day!