Irises.....

    Today it has been 8 years since my mother passed away. I still miss her.  She did not have an easy life. She gave birth to eleven children. Yes, she ruled the household. She made us show respect to elders and teachers. We were not allowed to run the streets.
    Some times mom  was funny. She would say , when asked if we could have friends over, "you don't need friends, you have your siblings. "  The older kids helped by watching the younger ones. That was not always easy.
    Mom didn't have much education, thank God she had some street sense.  She worked for the K-mart stores. She worked hard at other jobs too. But the K-mart was where she retired from.
   Mom loved all of us and our children. She loved traveling, shopping goodwill stores, and going to festivals. She loved every kind of flowering tree and plant. But her favorites were lilacs and irises.
I think the reason was because that was what was blooming in the yard when she moved into the little house on the corner. That was the first flowers I can remember her having. This picture is one I painted for mom one Christmas.
   I miss my mother so much. If you can hug your mom today, hug her for me.  XO