THINKING AGAIN ABOUT MY MOM
The more I think about my mother’s life and character, the prouder I become. To begin with, she was a beautiful young woman and the Valedictorian of her high school class. Then the Great Depression forced her to leave the university and support herself. She married a fellow named Walt, had me, and divorced Walt soon thereafter. She then worked as a waitress for a couple of years, but because she found it difficult to work for others, she began making and peddling sandwiches to bars and pool halls. I was often left with my grandmother so my mom could peddle her wares. Then she “loaned” me to a young couple named Larson, who lived on the edge of town, for about two or three years while she ran her own tiny café and made ends meet.
During this period of her life, my mom met and eventually married a young fellow named Chuck Mercer, a traveling salesman. They picked me up from the Larsons when I was about 5 years old, and we moved into a small hotel downtown in Bellingham, Washington. While my mom and Chuck worked during the day, I was on my own for most of it. I walked around town, got lunch at my mom’s café, and visited with various townspeople, most of whom knew my mom. Nearly everyone in this town of about 30,000 people knew me as “Virginia’s boy,” and I felt quite comfortable and safe there. Almost every day I went to the “People’s Movie Theater” to see cowboy movies. They let me in for free.
My mom soon divorced Chuck, and we moved into a one-room apartment right above her little café. I started first grade there. I kept playing in the alleys and empty lots around town while my mom kept working. My mom was always a very loving and attentive mother, but her work made it hard for her to pay much attention to me. I got into the habit of stealing toys from the local five-and-dime stores. I did not do well in school and had to switch schools often. Then my mom got a big break when she was asked to manage a large hotel coffee shop. She had to host frequent banquets and supervise several cooks and waitresses. I had the run of the hotel, elevator and all, including the Firestone garage attached to the hotel. It was a great time for me. I was happy.
Mom worked hard at her new job and was very successful. It was during World War Two, and there were many servicemen in town. Mom met and married one of them, George Gill, but he was in the Army and was shipped back East. Mom was pretty happy with her new job and made several good friends in town. She even bought us a beautiful home on a scenic drive, and I got to have a dog. I was doing much better in a new school run by the local college and was very happy. When George came home after the war, he didn’t like the house and moved us to a much less lovely home. My mom and I were not happy. We left George and moved in with my grandparents in a different residential district. I was happy there and made some good friends.
Then came my mom’s big success. She and my grandpa pooled their funds and leased a well-located, nice restaurant in the center of town, a venture that soon became a roaring success. “Virginia’s Café” became very popular, and my mom gathered several really fine cooks and waitresses to work there. It became like a big family, and the workers all befriended me. I was doing much better in school and became something of a star athlete. I went off to college and eventually to graduate school as well. My mom continued to work hard, and the café kept doing very well.
But my mom remained unhappy in her romantic life. She found a prosperous boyfriend named Al, who ran an important business in town, and they had an ongoing relationship for several years. However, Al had no interest in marriage, so although they were together for several years, they never married and eventually drifted apart. My mom was very proud of my academic success and delighted that I eventually became a college professor. Shortly thereafter, my mom came down with a fatal form of cancer and died at the age of 51. It was very sad, though I am sure she knew how much she was loved by her many coworkers and friends. And I know how proud she was of me. Virginia was a wonderful person and a really great mom. I still miss her very much.
My favorite memories of my mom revolve around the special trips she would arrange for the two of us to visit nearby Seattle for a few days. Once, while Mom went shopping, I got to go to the toy department at Frederick and Nelson’s and pick out a couple of special toys for myself. Then in the evening, we would go to a special event, like the Ice Follies or the circus. Sometimes we would go to a performance at a theater or to the horse races at the Longacres Racetrack and try to pick the winners. Another time, we went to hear a lecture by Adell Davis, the famous food expert, and before long, my Mom was stuffing me with exotic health foods, like blackstrap molasses from Africa, brewer’s yeast, and tiger’s milk. I will admit that I think these “radical” vitamin ideas had a lot to do with my robust health throughout my life. We rode the train to Seattle on these excursions, in the “Club Car,” and were waited on by the only Negro people I ever got to meet in my childhood, since there were no Negroes in Bellingham. My Mom and I were very close buddies, even though she was always extremely busy. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Mom!