My sister and I had our children just 6 weeks apart. Her twins were born in June and my son in July so we called them the triplets. Mother bought three little matching outfits several times to dress them in for pictures. We didn’t live in the same town but we were frequently at our mother’s at the same time.
One week I stopped in Tulsa and picked up my sister, her older son who was 5, and the twins, and took them home with me since their dad was working out of town and the kids were all sick. My own son was sick too, so we called Mom to see if she could come down and help us. She took off work the next day, hopped the bus, and was there before I got off work.
At that time I was commuting 40 miles one way, carpooling with some other girls, to Tulsa where we worked for the phone company. Mom stayed at my home with my sister and all 4 sick kids, 3 of them 18 months old. One of the twins was diagnosed with pneumonia, but since they didn’t have insurance, we took him home and turned one bedroom into a hospital room, complete with a makeshift tent for the humidifier.
The baby was sleeping on a roll-away bed, and while the women were out of his room thinking he was asleep, he was hot so he crawled back under the bed into a corner where it was cooler. The doctor had given him a new medicine, and Mother joked that she needed some of that medicine to keep up with all those kids. And of course, through it all, Mother was praying for each child. She still does.
Our kids are all grown now and we have grandchildren and great grandchildren now. Mother at almost 97 years old even has a few great great grandchildren. Do you know what she is known for in this family? Her hugs and kisses. Her helping hand. Taking care of all the grandkids while we worked. Her great home cooking.
Proverbs 31:28, 30, “Her children rise up and called her blessed. . . .Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”