Remembering Mom

[offog]

My mother recently passed away at the age of 80 after a 10 year battle with physical disabilities and dementia. We had a few days advance warning, so my brother and sister were able to fly in to say goodbye the day before Mom succumbed to a respiratory condition.

Mom grew up in Nazi Germany. Because of that, she always had a strong appreciation for democracy which she passed along to her kids, and she had some good "war stories". I'm posting one of them here as a sort of tribute. I guess you could call it "$#*! My Mom Said".

Mom's home town was a small farming community near Hamburg, and the folks there had a distrust of central authority of any kind, including the Nazis. At one point, everyone had to buy these cheaply-made Nazi uniforms and Mom got a definite sense that Grandpa resented it. The local butcher certainly resented it; so much so that he put his Nazi pants on his dog and then let the dog run around town. So the local Gestapo officials arrested the butcher, beat him up a bit, and locked him up.

Then a delegation of "village elders" visited the Gestapo office and BS'd the officials into releasing the butcher. The line was that everyone knew the guy was stark raving crazy and nobody took him seriously. Besides that he was the only butcher in town and they really needed him for the war effort. So how about letting him go? For the sake of the cause, of course.

BTW, Mom was always very gay-friendly, despite the homophobia of the Nazi regime. She was pleased when I started actively supporting the GLBT community a few years ago. She would have enjoyed having a beer with my buddies at the gay bar. (One of those buddies suggested that I write down Mom's stories. Thanks for the idea, G.P.)

Mom suffered the last couple of years she was alive. On some level, she was aware of how she was deteriorating both mentally and physically. We hope she's at peace now. Thanks to Soulforce for letting me share this. Best wishes for the holidays to everyone out there.

[RedneckDyke]

Your mom sounds like a great lady. I bet she is sitting in heaven with my granny, Anne Richards, LAdybird Johnson, and Molly Ivins and planning on how to get stuff done right up there.

[offog]

Thanks for the response, RedneckDyke.

Mom used to do volunteer work with immigrant organizations. For example, for awhile she was a volunteer teacher for ESL (English as a Second Language). In one class, she had a bunch of Vietnamese people, and she joked that if you run into any Vietnamese people with German accents, they're her students.

We live on the Canadian prairie, which is famous for its harsh winters. Every winter we get a couple of 40-below spells. (BTW, 40-below is the point on the thermometer where Farenheit and Celsius match up.) Once a Vietnamese fellow asked Mom, "How can it be so bright and sunny outside and still so cold?"

[Gennee]

Thank you for sharing the wonderful story, Offog. Also my condolences to you and your family.

Gennee

[matilda]

Thanks for sharing her story. Your mother seemed to be a lovely and very supportive person.

[antiochian]

Peace to you and your mother's spirit. She must have lived a very interesting life, judging by the story you shared. I just recently watched "Paragraph 175," a documentary about the oppression of gays by Nazi Germany... so sad.