Memories of Mom

This is a spot where I will be adding memories that people have of my mom.

Please send your memories or thoughts via email to orizen@aol.com

or via snail mail to Greg Munoz, 133 Holladay Dr, Cheney, WA., 99004

"A Visit in Colorado"

by Judy (Olson) Hughes (her sister) in an email to me 

I don't know why, but reading what you sent me reminded me of a time in Colorado with your Mom and Dad. We were visiting, just after you were born, I was about 13 yrs old.

It was early in the morning and I was sitting in their kitchen, watching your Mom make breakfast for your Dad. He was getting ready to go to work at the base and I saw her putting this bright "green stuff", eggs, cheese, and beans? on a flat little "pancake". Inside I was thinking, "ewwwwww! Yukkkkkk!", (typical brat teenager).

She made this with so much love and when he came to the table, he was 'lovin' every bite of it!" I had never seen "breakfast-food" like this in my life, but I was fascinated! I know I'd never laid eyes on an avocado before! I kept bugging her, asking questions about everything and she was explaining that this was your Dad's favorite breakfast. She very patiently told me about learning to make tortillas, and many other dishes, some from your Dad and also from your Grandmother. (I was hooked.)

How funny life is...... seeing your Mom and Dad together, listening to them tell about their adventures together, trips, etc. opened a new world for me and I realized that I wanted to explore and experience much more than the little community I was born in. I think I caught the "wanderlust" and began at age 16, winding up here in Texas.
 

"Memories of Mom"

by Gina Hollingsworth 

It has been about a year and a half since mom passed away and I guess I have been missing her so much more lately.  I figured I would write down a few of my memories of her to share with everybody on Greg’s website.

The one thing I remember that mom used to say to me was, “As you get older, I will get wiser.”  How true that statement has come to be, especially lately.  I can still hear her advice whenever things get rough.  I miss our conversations, just talking about the kids, her grandkids, life in general, and how much we missed each other.  I wish so much that she was here for me to just ask advice from her.  She always seemed to be able to find the right thing to say or give you the options that you needed to hear.  Although we didn’t always agree on things, she never judged and made me feel that I was loved no matter what I chose to do in life. 

I miss her smile and her laughter so much.  She had a way of brightening up a room whenever she started to laugh.  She taught me to be able to laugh at myself when I did silly things or made mistakes.  I can still remember when she was in the hospital.  She was so tired and worn out and had been given so many drugs that made her a little loopy.  As I was sitting there by her side and she was asleep, she would talk in her sleep and move her hands around.  I remember one time she woke up and looked at me and smiled and started laughing, -- she said, did you see me moving those brownies from one pan to the other. I couldn’t help but giggle, that was mom, even though you are feeling at the lowest point you could possibly be, keep a smile on your face and a sense of humor to go with it.

I have many crazy things going on in my life right now and I miss her terribly.  It was always so easy to call her up and get her advice on what to do, she always seemed so worldly with all the right answers.  I am trying to take each day as it comes and live life like she would have wanted me to, with a smile and a sense of humor.  It is hard to do that with her gone, but I know that is what she would have wanted.

Mom –

It is time for you to take flight

But you didn’t give up without a fight.

You held on as long as you could

And tried as hard as you should.

I miss you so much,

Your smile, your hug, your gentle touch.

I pray and ask God every day,

Why did it have to be this way.

I tell myself because he needed you more

To fight the evil that knocks on our doors.

Although this may be

It is hard for me to see.

I still shed my tears everyday

Because I miss your kind and gentle way,

The talks and things you had to say.

I hope you know in your heart

I wish we never had to part

I know you are up in Heaven now

And gently brushing your hand across my brow

I love you mom and miss your smile

Wait for me in Heaven because I will be there after awhile.

Just a poem for my mom, may not be that great, but it says a lot about how I feel about her and how much I miss her.  I hope one day I can be as good a person as she was, I strive every day to do that. 

LOVE YOU, MOM!!

Love, Gina

"Vernice Riding My Horses"

by Rob Olson (her brother)

She loved all animals but she really liked to ride my horses.  She wasn't afraid of any horse.  I would find her getting on my bronc's that I was breaking if mom or I would let her.

She had 2 speeds when she rode; one was fast, the other was faster.  Mom always said she could stick to a horse bareback just like a "little woodtick".

One time she was riding a gray mare of mine that was not well broke.   She came around riding fast as the horse could run.  We had a big white dog - "Dumb as a Post".  The dog jumped out from under a hay stack mover.  The horse stopped & Vernice slid up the neck, over the head of the horse, hit the ground and broke her glasses.

It didn't slow her down, she was always ready to ride any of my horses.

"Vernice"

by Roz

Vernice and I were so very different and in all those differences, very much the same.  Meeting her for the first time introduced me to the first parent of a friend that treated me as an adult equal.  She had a sincere interest in all our conversations, whether they were about the cliff dwellers of the southwest or the attributes of Butter Buds.  I remember those conversations vividly.  For a while now I remembered them with the bittersweetness of loss, but have come to cherish them.  They are comforting to me now.

Vernice was the most adventurous person I had met; I have to scope out a situation before diving in there.  Vernice had traveled extensively; I had no real world experience and only one hometown.  Vernice loved the mystery that came with history; I become annoyed at the “unknown” aspect and always want the full story.  Vernice was an incredible optimist; and I, well . . .  And yet, there were such similarities that soon, independent of my friendships with her children, we were friends.

Although she was so willing to try something new, she was also intelligently cautious.  She taught me a lot of little tips in that regard I could fill a page!  Talking to her about traveling, I came to understand that she made a hometown out of everywhere she lived.  She didn’t just occupy a space there, she wanted to live in the area.  Having moved often over the years now, I have come to see what an adventure it can be, if you are open to it.  Through her archeology classes or reading she satisfied herself in the search for the answers to history’s gaps.  I too can read for hours and feel complete that I know all I need to on a subject.  We even swapped books a few times.  Even though an optimistic outlook isn’t something I ever really thought I possessed, I have realized that it is much easier, even to fake, than to live with a pessimistic outlook!

We had such great times laughing, mainly about ourselves, and talking.  Every now and again, Vernice would say something that would remind me of her years of experience.  Soon, I grew to admire her so much, that I would commit these tidbits of wisdom to memory.  They have all been a great help/comfort to me in the years since.  Vernice told me to never assume you know your children, because getting to know them as they grow is most of the fun.  Wow, how that has come to be true.  Another was to always remember that if you judge someone, be willing to be judged yourself, because sooner or later you will be, and just as harshly.  Whenever some relationship would frustrate me, there we would be (she’d usually be making me some great dinner) discussing it and I learned not to be disappointed in people, because for one thing you can’t change them and for another, they were probably trying to do the best they could by you.  I can appreciate people so much more when I consider that!  Watching her I saw what it was to love your children unconditionally.  At the Munoz house, I was an audience to a marriage that was truly a union of two independent people, enjoying the life they were creating together.  And meeting Vernice at 17 years old, opened my eyes to the first self-proclaimed feminist I had ever met!  And what an amazing example of that she was.  I would feel actually stronger and more capable around her, as though women could do anything.

Learning so much from Vernice, on so many different levels, funny, smart, parenting, marriage, the biggest one I think I learned was just to listen.  That’s it.  Just listen.

I will forever be grateful for the continuing welcome I have received from the Munoz family.  I am also thankful for whatever forces it was that brought them into my life – for it is truly fuller because of them.

With love always,

Rosalind Oaxaca Moffett