It's My Mother-in-Law's Birthday and What a Blessing She Is

Today is my mother-in-law, Junes birthday.

She doesn't act or look her age.

She keeps her house spotless, cooks three meals each day from scratch, works in the greenhouses and garden, keeps flowers, hangs up clothes on the line and takes them in again.

Makes yeast biscuits and  various cakes and keeps them in the freezer so she is ready  when needed.

She in Lowell will be married 65 years come next week.

I think I have that right I might be off a year I need to check on that.

Things haven't been easy, money was tight and June had to work away from home a lot of years.

June has never not even once been an interfering mother-in-law.

Sometimes when I was young if anything I thought she didn't show enough concern.

I was wrong.

She was just different from my mom.

I see now I needed both of these women.

I needed my mom to show me nurturing in mothering in one way and I needed to learn a different kind from June.

I learned how to get up and keep working when I wanted to stop from June.

I learned how to be a farm wife and take care of four kids at the same time from June.

I learned most of what I know about cooking and canning and freezing and baking from June.

I'm not the housekeeper June is.

She has never said a word about that to me but I know she knows.

I don't know why I never learned that from her, it isn't because she didn't set a good example the fault lies with me.

June never had the house she would have liked to have had.

She raised four kids, three boys and one girl in a two bedroom block house.

It wasn't what she wanted,  but when you walked inside of it you would have never known that.

Sometimes when people don't have what they want they say, well what does it matter anyway.

Not June.  she kept her house like it was everything she wanted. She took pride in her housekeeping and she still does.

Years past and now she has a beautiful kitchen and bathroom.

She was faithful in her care when she had little and she is faithful in the care of more.

I learned your kids will do things you don't think they will do from June.

Once I was telling her about how Lucas was starting to be afraid of things and I didn't know why.

She said, maybe Heidi is telling him things that scare him.

I thought, "What! Heidi wouldn't do that."

The very next day I heard her telling him a scary story.

I couldn't believe it.

I called June and told her she had been right, I asked her how she knew.

She said, "Oh I just know how kids are."

Lowell and June were not and are not the grandparents of today.

They have came to a few of their grandchildren's games or activities but they are not from the generation that did all of that.

They are quiet grandparents but they love their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

When June sees me doing something or sees the results of what I've done or even hears me telling about something I'm going to do and she has an idea she thinks might help me, she says, "well I'm not telling you what to do but if it was me, I would....."  whatever it is she would do.

If for some reason I don't do it that way  she never says anything to me,  it is never brought up again.

If I do listen she will say, "I thought that might work."

I admire my mother-in-law.

She is a hard working woman, she isn't the kind to gush over you or call you everyday or give lots of gifts or praise.

That just isn't her.

I've learned so much from her.

I have learned to go on.

June is so different from my mother and I needed that.

My mother taught me wonderful things and blessed me over and over but as a farm wife and mother  I still needed more.

I needed some polishing.

I needed to grow up in a few ways and June helped me.

She lived and worked and I watched.

June enjoys the farm,  she enjoys the calves and little pigs being born, she appreciates a field of hay or a wagon of corn.

She sees the beauty in a box of tomatoes or a neatly stacked woodpile.

She loves a clean garden and a loaded peach tree or grape vine.

She cans all day and looks with admiration at a counter full of canned goods, and then  at the end of the day and goes to bed with her ear toward the kitchen listening for the ping of sealing lids.

She stands at the sink and Lowell will come in and grab the bottom of her skirt and pull in up and she will yell in that way she does and slaps at him.

I am blessed to her, she has never not once made me feel like I was in competition with her or that Mark was her son more than he was my husband.

She turned him loose.

Happy Birthday to  a wonderul mother-in-law who gave me a lot of lessons that I needed and thank you to my mother who taught me to not be afraid of  lessons learned from a mother- in - law but to embrace them.


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