PROMPT: Whom Do You Admire & Why?
I have a list of people I admire. Favorite historical figure? Benjamin Franklin. Favorite superhero? Wonder Woman. Favorite American president? Ronald Regan. Favorite author? Kathy Reichs.
However, the person I admire the most is very close to my heart and always on my mind: my Momma, Julia Moseley. She recently passed in June 2022. I miss her terribly. Ovarian cancer took her from us and I feel cheated. We should’ve had her, at least 20 more years.
She was the oldest of five, growing up in a large German family. She went to Catholic school from K through ninth and was at the top of her class always. She grew up in a small town in Benton County, Indiana and was related to the majority of the people in her town.
She met my Dad in their freshmen year of college. They both had full-scholarships to Marion College. He was in her Biology lab group and, at first, she though he was annoying. Mainly because the house cat that they were dissecting had a toe tag and my Dad “happened” to name the cat, so when the Nun who was teaching the course was calling the names, she called a name she didn’t recognize — to which my Dad laughed out loud. Thankfully, he grew on her! They were married two years later in my Mom’s hometown.
She started college as pre-Med, but changed majors, going to college classes whenever she could fit them in. It took a good 2/3rds of my life for her to finish with her bachelor’s degree. There were three of us total, with me being the first. Prior to my sibblings crashing the party, my Mom and Dad and I were the “Three Stooges,” naturally. I was Moe, Mom was Larry, and my Dad was Curly. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
I was very much a “Daddy’s Girl.” Of course I loved my Mom, but we didn’t see exactly eye-to-eye. She wanted me to be more girly: I was a tomboy. I was very “spirited,” and was often in trouble and exasperating. However, I loved her and wanted to be more gentle and refined like her, but could never totally pull it off.
God has a sense of humor, so he made me look exactly like her. So much so, that whenever my Dad posted a picture to Facebook, Facebook would immediately try to tag ME in it. I have my Mother’s looks and my Father’s wit. My Mom was funny too, with a dry humor, and she liked dark things like I did. I got my love of all things British from her. We would watch Masterpiece Theatre and the BBC, quite a lot. She decorated in a very eclectic manner, even before it was popular. She loved to cook and could whip things up from virtually nothing.
However, she had a type of grace that I can only aspire to find. Children loved her and gravitated to her and she immediately knew what to do, for an illness or an injury. Animals loved her and she was kind to them, although not excessively wild about them. She always spoke well of people. When you made her mad, she could purse her mouth so tightly that her lips could virtually disappear. (Unfortunately, my middle child found that to be true when I was on stage graduating with my bachelor’s degree.) You could be sarcastic and punny around her, like my Dad, and she would shake her head and roll her eyes. And she was a very devout Catholic to the end.
There is no one in the world like her and there will never be. I guess that’s why it’s both my punishment and my blessing to wake up every morning and see her in mirror. I miss her so much i can scarcely breathe.