Happy Valentine's Day Mom!
This picture is from 1969, with myself, my baby sister Cristina, and my Betty Draper mom, Irene. It wasn't taken on Valentine's Day, but as I was looking at it a flood of childhood memories came rushing back. Two things stand out from the golden, hazy years of my youth. First, is that I felt so truly loved by my mother. Hers was an all consuming love for her children. Second, is that she made our childhood so much fun. Every holiday and special occasion was celebrated, crafted, baked for, and thoroughly
enjoyed. Skits were made and performed, posters drawn, pots and pans banged, decorations were hung. We partied hard! The look on her face says it all. She lived for her children and wanted to make everything wondrous for us. And she did (does).
When I started teaching I realized that many of the arts and crafty things that I would do with the class were some version of something she did with us. I've done some rendition of this Valentine's Day Compliment Envelope in every grade I have taught. I even did it with my ESL students when I was teaching abroad.
