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Having more than one mother may not be such a bad thing |
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Written by PATTY STEWART
Citizen columnist
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
One would think that one mother in a girl’s life would be just enough.
I had dozens, and that’s a good thing.
Of course, at the time I didn’t view the whole situation as totally positive.
In 1967, I went from having one mother and two grandmothers to having a whole school full of mothers - dozens of them. They were all sisters of the Ursuline order, but to us students they were all "mothers."
My only preparation for the boarding-school experience had been repeated viewings of The Trouble With Angles, starring Haley Mills. So I expected there would be strict rules, and occasional fun breaking them.
Mother Afra was my first foil. As floor mistress, it was her job to ensure the sophomore class adhered to the rules. The consequences were well known. Smoking got you a $25 fine as well as possible detention time in study hall. There was a fine for borrowing clothes, but it wasn’t enforced regularly. And the chewing gum fine, at $5, was the most affordable.
We were to adhere to a schedule that included breakfast in the dining room, fully dressed, in uniform, at 7:30 a.m. Classes began at 8:30, and the prospect of ever skipping a class were nil.
Of course, it never occurred to us that many of our mothers had been up since dawn, preparing breakfast, working in the garden or laundry, doing all the many things necessary to keep a boarding school for girls going.
The breakfasts were the best - homemade Boston brown bread with plump raisins served in tin cans hot from the oven was my favourite. We would sit at round tables of eight, with meals served family style, three times a day except on Saturdays, when we would eat cafeteria style, or walk to the A&W Drive-In in town.
In the first month, we each ended up packing on an extra five to 10 pounds and were busy taking out the waistbands on our skirts. Mother Afra also served as a part-time gym teacher, so we were soon running timed laps around the school property.
Many of the nuns were avid hikers, so we would line up on Saturdays like Madeleine, following them a couple of miles to Lake Killarney or trudging up the highway to Tip Top, Missouri’s highest point.
Mother Alphonse’s passion was flowers, and she would share her secrets to raising healthy African violets, while Mother Assumpta gave me the world’s best praline recipe.
From Mother Monica I learned classical piano, and why one should not eat onions prior to lessons. From Mother Gertrude I learned typing and shorthand, and from Mother Rosemary I learned history, and that the aesthetics of the world are not necessarily its most important attributes.
It was many years before I realized how blessed I had been by this experience, to appreciate all of these mothers in my life. They were inspiring, devoted women, some of the most heroic and independent I have ever known.
And before it’s too late, I want to thank them and all those other women who showed me you didn’t have to give birth to someone, to be a wonderful mother.
Happy Mother’s Day this weekend, to all the mothers out there.
If you know of someone or something that should be In the Spotlight, contact Patty Stewart at
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 May 2008 )
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