52 Ancestors,
in 52 Weeks
Week 19:
Mother
Family Finds Charter Oak

My Mother

For this week’s prompt I thought I’d share some favorite photos of my mother, Betty LaFara. My mother will be 96 this summer and she is regularly surprised to have lived such a long and relatively healthy life. I’m not sure why she is surprised since both her mother and grandmother lived long lives. Nonetheless, my mother appreciates her good health and takes pleasure in working on her quilting projects everyday. It may be the creative process that has contributed to her long life, it has certainly made it more enjoyable.

School Days

Here’s a sampling of my mother’s childhood to adulthood portrait photos.
These span about 1930 to 1947.

School Picture Roll

Motherhood

Photos of my mother with her four children when each was a baby.

Mother with Children

I like the photo below because you can see my father’s reflection in the window.

Mothers Day

Through the Years

Here’s a collection of images spanning nearly 50 years.

My Mother

Weaving

My mother began weaving in the mid-’60s. She made all sorts of beautiful fabrics over the years. I’ll share photos of some of her projects in the future. She gave up weaving about 15 years ago but took up a new passion: quilting.

Weaving

Quilting

Although my mother has only been quilting about 20 years, she has created MANY quilts. Some of her quilts are tiny, some are wall hangings and others cover an entire bed.

Quilting

A very small sampling of my mother’s quilts. Click on one to see a larger view.

Keep On Rockin’

Here’s my mother sitting in her rocking chair, 1964 and 2014. She did re-cover the cushions many times over the years. The most recent is a fabric she hand wove.

Rocker

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this sampling of photos of my mother. This last one, at right. was taken in 1963 during a family picnic at Shades State Park, [1] near Waveland, Indiana. I like how the fallen leaves make a colorful path along the trail and my mother seems in awe of the scene.

Xmas Quilt Collage
Shades Park

2 Comments

  1. Cheryl Schulte

    What a beautiful post. You are very lucky to still have your mother. Our mothers must have been the same age because my mom would have been 96 this July. I lost her 5 years ago and think of her every day.

    I enjoyed all the photos you shared and the arrangement was really special. I am sure she is honored by what you have created.

    Reply
    • Barb

      Thanks, Cheryl! My mother approved the photos I chose and enjoyed reliving the moments. She lives over 1000 miles away, and I have not seen her in person for over a year (of course…) but we Zoom every week.

      Reply

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