Pages

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Nearly a Century Celebration

This is my mother, Clara, and this post is ALL about her.mom collage2
She is a remarkable woman and over the weekend, Grenville and I returned to our native NJ for a gathering of family and friends to mark her 90th birthday. The party was on Saturday, a day before her birthday — in the 9th month on the 9th day and 90 years ago — a VERY special celebration.

Home to my mom was Scotch Plains, NJ, and consisted of her parents and an older sister, Anna. Her mother died when she 9 months old. Afterwards, her father returned to his native Italy to find a new wife and stepmother for his young daughters.
early mom collage
After remarrying, my grandfather returned to the US. Shown below are my mother with her parents and sister.mom family collage
During World War II, my mother worked at General Motors in Linden, NJ — part of the women’s labor force who replaced men serving in the armed forces. These women were referred to as Rosie the Riveter as factories where they worked typically produced war supplies, including planes and ships.

My parents knew each other from childhood, my father’s mother was my mom’s godmother. She and her sister lived in his parents home temporarily when my grandfather returned to Italy. My mother and father started dating as young adults . . .
Mom collage3
Later were engaged, then married; look at these classic photos !
Mom collage4
They honeymooned in a very popular destination of the time — easy to tell where by these photos; the Nation’s Capital was younger too.
honeymoom collage
90th bday collageMy mother is doing well. At the party, she was already talking about next year’s celebration. Shown above are the youngest and senior party attendees  — great granddaughter and mom.Happy Birthday, Mom — We love you !
Beatrice, Grenville, your family & friends

22 comments:

MadSnapper said...

love all the old photos, and tell her she is still beautiful.

Country Gal said...

Wonderful photos ! Lovely looking lady then and now !

L. D. said...

This is a great collection of photos to share you mother with us. Happy Birthday to her.

barbara l. hale said...

This is wonderful! What great photos. I really love the wedding photos. A gorgeous dress!!

Doris said...

Love the photos! Your Mother is beautiful! Those wedding photos would be ones I would have sat and looked at for hours as a little girl. We had a stack of family wedding photos which me and my sisters could not look at enough....guess we were dreaming of the day =)

Lois Evensen said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom! What a beautiful tribute. :)

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photos with her wearing that wedding dress! I like the others too of course :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Out on the prairie said...

What a lovely tale and pics to share, very heartwarming.

Connie said...

Aw, happy birthday to her! What wonderful old pictures! Great memories to treasure here, Beatrice.

Anvilcloud said...

Lovely pics and tribute. All the best to mom and to thou too.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday wishes to your lovely mom. Such a great collection of photos from years gone by. The last one of your mom and her great granddaughter is precious.

Kay G. said...

What a wonderful post! Please wish your Mom a happy birthday and tell her how beautiful she is!
Thanks for sharing these photos.
That wedding dress, how gorgeous!

Elaine said...

A beautiful post and wonderful memories of your mom's life. I love the wedding photos and that special one with little Ellie. My mom's name is Clara too, but she's been gone for many years. Wonderful that you still have your lovely mother with you. Looks like she had a delightful birthday celebration surrounded by family and friends, and great that she is already planning next year's party!

Alan Burnett said...

Congratulations to your mother. And those photographs are absolutely wonderful. Such a rich and varied life captured in such wonderful images.

Rebecca said...

What a wonderful story about your mom. I love the dress. Look at all that fabric! She must have felt like a prncess.

Montanagirl said...

Wow - this is a great post! She's a lovely woman. What a wonderful tribute to her. Love the old photos. My Dad will be 91 this year. We did his big 90th bash last year. He loved every minute of it!!

Becky Mushko said...

Wonderful pictures!

Cicero Sings said...

She is looking good for her 90 years! Fun to see the photos. I had a big celebration for my Mom too, when she turned 90 now she is 98 and hoping to make 100!!!!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

You are blessed to have all those photos of your mom and such a detailed history of her life. Blessing to her on her birthday.

Minerva said...

My parents honeymooned in D.C., too. Later on in their marriage, they moved to Baltimore, an hour away! I don't think that they ever thought that they would be close to D.C. after their honeymoon.

Great pictures of your beautiful Mom. You are blessed to have her.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

I had to smile when I read this. My mother worked in the ship yards and was part of the female work force also. She was an electricians mate. our mother's hair styles back then were so similar.
My mother passed away at 86 and has been gone for awhile now.
My mother also knew my father from childhood.
I just wanted to say that they did a touching ceremony in the Atlanta airport..you could hear a pin drop.
All those folks rushing about but they paused for a few moments of silence. I will remember that day until I die. It is still hard to believe it could really happen..and I actually flew in a plane on that day and I swore I wouldn't.
I am glad to be home..I am hoping for a miricle.
Hugs!
Mona

CountryDew said...

Happy Birthday to your mom!