I thought for Mother's Day weekend I would post pictures of our mothers. My mother Margery is on the left. She was born in 1912 and grew up in Nanty-Glo, Pennsylvania. She became an elementary school teacher after graduating from the State Teachers College at Indiana. That's in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Forty or so years later, I graduated from the same school except, by then, it had been renamed the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She secretly married my dad on August 25, 1938. Secretly because in those days, where we lived, teachers weren't supposed to be married. She gave birth to 3 children and was rewarded with 6 sweet grandchildren. She taught school (third grade) until she retired in 1974 and moved to Huntsville. This picture was taken on the day our daughter Melissa graduated from high school. That was in May 1989. Mom died a month later during unsuccessful heart valve surgery. I'll let Nancy tell you about her mother, Mary.

My mom was born in 1918 in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. She was a seamstress, beginning at age 16, in the local shirt factory and worked there most of her working years until her retirement at age 65. She was also a seamstress at home and taught my sister Elaine and me to sew. Mom married my dad, Michael, on February 14, 1942. He chose Valentine's Day so he would never forget his anniversary. He told me he proposed on Halloween so he wouldn't forget that date either. They were married 50 years until he died in 1993. Mom currently lives in Garvey Manor, a fine nursing home in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. I took the picture above about the time we were celebrating her 94th birthday last year. I try to talk to her nearly every day. We like to think of it as having our "afternoon tea" together. She is blessed with 4 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.