The Woman Who Introduced the Bonus Child

The Looker

Last, but certainly not least: This is my mom. Wasn't she a "looker" back in the day? Apparently my dad thought so, too. My parents were married when my mom was just 15 yrs old and my dad 17 yrs old. Wow, huh? My mom had my brother 2 years later at 17 and my oldest sister at 19. My other sister was born just 4 yrs after that. Then, 9 years after that the bundle of joy, otherwise known as me, came along! Yes, I am what some refer to as "the accident" [at least that's what my siblings would have you believe...]

My Mom Called Me the Bonus...

Growing up [me, not the said older siblings], my parents were huge Zig Ziglar fans. Do you know him? You've probably heard one of his motivational quotes before...He's a motivational speaker who started holding seminars in the 1970's on the power of positive thinking. My parents went to one of the seminars and also bought his book and all of his tapes [cassette tapes...remember those?]. My parents sat on the side of the bed every morning and before they did anything else, they'd tell themselves what a great day they were going to have...They also taped a positive message on the bathroom mirror, so they'd read it countless times while getting ready in the morning. [I tried the early morning pep talk and I liked it, but never left any messages on the mirror for myself unless you count the time I took a bar of soap and a foggy bathroom mirror and wrote my name on it...] Well, this outlook profoundly affected how I look at life, of course [which is why I'm so more well-adjusted than my older siblings ;) ]. When introducing me to other people, my mom always called me her "Bonus Child" [not an "accident" or "oops"]. Anyway, the smart man that he was my dad followed suit, and that's the kind of attitude that I grew up with...and I wouldn't have it any other way... [My siblings are just jealous because they aren't the "bonus," which is understandable...lol]

The Mom Pics

Above are some pictures of my mom in various "mom" poses. The middle top one is a school picture of my mom, probably around the time she married my dad. The 2 outside pictures of her are with her first 2 babies. Look how young she looks [probably because she was - lol]. The bottom 3 pictures include...me! In the one on the far left, I am a newborn...sleeping on the couch with my mom and the siblings surrounding me. The other 2 were from a family trip to Big Bend National Park out in West Texas, which we did several times growing up [on this trip I was about 6]. One thing I'd like to point out is how happy everyone looks with my addition into their lives...[Trust me I've seen the before pictures and they don't look half as happy! lol]. Speaking of other pictures, there are a ton of them...apparently my dad thought he was a professional photographer...so, he took pictures of everything! Now they are all mine [thanks, dad]...There are a bunch of pictures of my mom in the early years. [Apparently she thought she was a fashion model...lol] So, it was hard to pick just a few to share, but I managed...to include 3 of them with me...

So, thank you mom for making me your "Bonus Child." [Oh, and dad, too, but that's for another story for another day.] I love you, and have a happy Mother's Day!

Caroline

"She wrote, 'My Mother'"

A Wonderful Discovery
The week after Hurricane Ike the kids and I stayed with my sister in San Antonio for several days.  On the last day right before we left, she mentioned that she had a couple of "tubs" of stuff that was mom and dad's and asked me if I wanted to go through it. [Well, duh...]  To my utter surprise I found many family photographs, memorabilia, and old school projects [of my dad's].  I was so ecstatic.  She also said I needed to get over to mom's house because there were more "tubs" to go through.  [I have yet to go back, but it's on top of my summer "to-do" list.]

Lillie Mae Alley
This is one of the precious photographs that I found of my great-grandmother on my dad's side, Lillie Mae Alley.  She was the daughter of Catharine Caroline Vaughn who I introduced you to yesterday.  This is the photograph of her that my grandma [my Paw-Paw] had of her mother.  She looks so young, and after doing some research, I found that she'd married very young and died young, so this photograph truly captures her innocence and her life.  She passed away when my Paw-Paw was only 6 years old.  Lillie Mae gave birth to four children: Little Pearl, Roscoe Benton, Rettie Maye [my Paw-Paw], and Mabel Irene.  Little Pearl passed away when just an infant, and until I found her, no one knew she'd existed.  I wonder if my Paw-Paw had known...


My Paw-Paw wrote, "My Mother"
While it's never easy to lose a loved one, certainly this was a difficult age for my Paw-Paw to lose her mother, and I wonder what she thought about this photograph that she had of her mother.  On the back, my Paw-Paw wrote simply, "Lillie Mae Alley (my mother).  Following are the lyrics of a song called "Photograph" that accurately captures the feeling I get when looking at family photographs...[written and performed by Charlie Robison, a Texas music performer; see my music picks in my sidebar.]:


Photograph
[written & performed by
Charlie Robison]
Well I got a picture
It's glued in a book
Of most of my family,
 that somebody took

Well Grandpa died early
Before I could know
The man that they tell me
That I take after so

Well I don't remember
But it still makes me laugh
When I see us together
In a photograph

Well mama and daddy
Burned hot like a flame
But it all turned ashes
With no one to blame

and I can still see them
But not in my mind
It's been so long
All my memories lie

Well I can't remember
But it still makes me laugh
When I see us together
In a photograph

Well it happened last winter
We had a son
And they took a picture
Of family, round one

It's there to remind you
For when you can't recall
What your daddy looked like
When you were so small

Though you won't remember
It'll still make you laugh
When you see us together
In a photograph

No you won't remember
It'll still make you laugh
When you see us together
In a photograph

Happy Mother's Day, Lillie Mae...

Caroline