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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1995)
The Clackamas Print Page 6 Wednesday, May 10,1995 FEATURES Thanks Mom: a tribute to mothers by Linda Barr Batdorf Staff Writer Mom’s got a way about her. She has always given much more than she ever re ceived. Even when her only birthday present was a hand ful of modeling clay shaped into a rough heart, or a child’s watercolor view of the world, she would gracefully accept the “work of art” as one might an original Picasso, with awe and wonder, almost afraid to touch it, turning this way and that as if it were a priceless treasure. She would look her smiling child right in the eye and say, “Why honey, it’s just beautiful...” My mother, Helen Garhan of Estacada, had five children before she reached the ripe age of 28. She has always been the kind of parent who used all basic Early Childhood Education tech niques before anyone knew that’s what they were. Even before they had classes dedicated to understanding and relating to children, Mom had written the book on it. She called it common sense, mixed with a lot of patience, prayer, discipline, love and laugh ter. I don’t even remember being spanked, but I tell you, my little wiry mother could fry bacon with one of her patented mom-stares. She did another thing that would put the fear of God into the heart of a young child. Say, for example, one of us was running wildly about with the ever-popular sharp stick. Now this is something we knew we ought not to try, but most kids try it anyway, and we were certainly no exception. After once requesting that all running with sharp-eye imple ments be stopped, she would grab the offending child tightly up in her arms, position her face about 1/100th of an inch away from said offender’s face, grit her teeth and so softly, yet with unbelievable power slowly say the following, “I SAID...” At this point, the child would either do exactly what Mom had requested the first time, or slowly liquidate into a pool of shivering yutz. No one ever wanted to go be yond stage no. 1 of the Wrath of Mom. And, by her design, we didn’t. She is simply the classiest, most lovely woman I know. Her beauty and grace come from a heritage of honesty and integrity, mingled with the sweetest, most unconditional kind of love there is. We always knew that Mom’s love was there. It would never go away, even when we didn’t like ourselves very much. You see, five children can do a lot of unlovable things (espe cially during adolescence), but Mom always made abundantly clear that no matter what we did, and no matter what we said, she would always love us. Just knowing that carried us through a lot of rough water. She selected Motherhood as her proud profession of choice and all of us, Tim, Lene, Cass, Shirl and I are all thankful for that. There was something warm and comforting in knowing that Mom was close by, in the house or singing in the forest behind our farm. She was there to hold us when we were sick, to talk to and hug during the awkward teen years, and to cherish now that there are grandchildren to carry on the heritage she so artfully passed along. Mom has a way about her, all right. I could men tion the laughter she brought to the house, but I wouldn’t want you to think she’s a klutz. So, I won’t mention her cas cading fall across the entire length of our front yard — she skittered across the dewy wet grass on her bum, holding my dad’s forgotten car keys straight out in front of her the entire time, with a “gee...ain’t this dumb” kind of grin on her face. Neither will I mention her great Jerry Lewis impersonations. The most memorable incident occurred at the drive-up window at a Motor Mocha when -- she didn’t realize that we were near the order window — she screamed “Hey LAY-deee!!” at the top of her lungs in an effort to demon strate Jerry’s latest “doings” on Letterman. I think she may have got an extra chocolate coffee bean for that one. And I would never, ever in a million years talk about the time the sewing machine attacked her and broke a needle off in the tip of one of her fingers. It seems to me that my sister Cathy’s boyfriend was over, and at the sight of Mom yanking on the needle with a pair of pliers, almost passed out cold. The horse-dragging-Mom or horse-biting-Mom incidents should not be mentioned here and neither should the time that she chopped through the main artery in her leg as she showed my sis ter Shirley and I how to properly carry an axe. (No problem. My brother Tim was used to this kind of stuff and after fixing her up with a nice tourniquet, delivered her to the hometown doctor who was used to this kind of stuff from Mom, too.) But none of that should be re peated, so I won’t mention it here. Mom’s sure got a way about her. I have vivid images of Mom chasing sheep on those crutches; Mom making any one of a mil lion delightful meals; Mom rock ing and hugging kids; Mom drag ging old boards out from under our house so those five children could keep warm in a cold win ter; Mom making doll clothes for inexpensive dolls she found, so that her daughters could have the best Christmas ever; Mom work ing all night to turn an old dress and shoes into a Cinderella gown for Ilene who had nothing to wear as homecoming queen; Mom en during snakes wrapped around paring knives in the kitchen, jumping lizards on necks and baby horses on the couch; and I also recall the feel of that warm est hug in the world. If I could tell this woman something — this lady who en couraged and loved me for all of my life and this friend who gave me my life — if I could tell her something beside the obvious fact that I love her dearly, I would say “thanks.” Thanks Mom,,for listening to me drone on and on about my life and my own problems, and for not acting hurt when I didn’t even ask about yours. Thanks for never pushing us to fit into any mold, except that of our destiny. Thanks for the “little noodle soup” and 7-Up when we were sick, and for trying so hard to understand each personality, and every changing mood. You gave so much of your life for us — how could we ever prop erly thank you for that? You’ve, managed to keep things alive like honesty, integ rity and a deep respect for all liv ing things, even when that world around you does not. So, how do five kids tell their Mom that they are proud of her, and that to them, she epitomizes success because of who and what she is? I guess we’ll just tell her. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You know, you really do have a way about you. Tongues waggin’ over ‘French Kiss’ by Hoyun Choi Staff Writer If you’re looking for a great romantic comedy, “French Kiss” is for you. Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline keep you laughing the whole time. The movie starts out with Meg Ryan desperately trying to overcome her big fear of flying. Miserably failing the course, she disappoints her fiance’s plans to take them both to the city of love, Paris. Ryan con vinces her fiance to go without her, and he is on his way. One evening, as Ryan and her friend are cooking dinner, her fiance makes his usual evening call. This time, his tone is different and had some shocking news for her. He in forms her that he has fallen madly in love with a French goddess. The kind of love that makes you want to drop every thing and everyone - including the former love of his life, Meg Ryan. After hearing the news, Ryan boards the next plane to France to get back her love. The paranoid, terrified Ryan meets an obnoxious French man (Kevin Kline) on the plane. Kline is the last person Ryan would like to spend a trip to France with. There is a twist, and they set out to get back Ryan’s fiance from the grips of the gorgeous French goddess. “French Kiss” shows the changes of people through a short period of time. It shows the true colors of the “perfect fiance.” It brings out the sen sitive side of the obnoxious hoodlum, and it gives confi dence and self-esteem to a per son who thought they knew exactly what they wanted. This movie was funny, ro mantic and maybe even enough to shed a tear or so for those romantics out there. If you’re looking for this kind of a movie, go ahead and splurge the $6. FABULOUS FRIDAYS THIS SUMMER! Something Wild Is Happening At MGP Every Friday Night... Human Bowling Bungee Running ^Machine Sumo Wrestling Uve Entertainment Funandtasy F^perience v Ladies Nite in June You'll Like This Game! 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