January 8, 2018 Monday)
Today was my mother’s birthday. She was born January 8, 1912 and her funeral was held on her birthday, January 8, 1990. She died at 78, but never ever talked about her age. After her flaming red hair turned to grey, no one saw it because she had color applied to maintain the color she had had all her life.
A few years ago I wrote a blog about her on her birthday, and I think I would like to repeat that blog as if it were written today, updating dates:
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(Updated). My mother’s funeral was held on this date in 1990, significant because it would have been her 78th birthday. Today (January 8, 2018) she would have been 106, but if she were living today, she would quickly change the subject, reminding us that age is “just a number,” as she put it, adding “It’s all in your mind.” She was only 19 when I was born, and always seemed more like a contemporary, rather than a parent. She was a woman ahead of her time, a feminist by action, if not by agenda. She knew she was as good at doing things as any man, but never talked about it. She just acted upon it. She owned her own business early in life, and was always the center of attention. We don’t celebrate her birthday now, but we always remember it. Her full name was Jessie Pearl Lowe Fake Heim, but in the circles in which she moved, you just asked about “Jessie,” and everyone knew you were asking about her.
Here’s a photograph of my mother, Jessie, and my stepfather, Joe Heim. They were married for 46 years. May they rest in peace.
