Marie Bowers

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

 

 

In her last photo, standing by a big fountain

Grandmother was tiny.

She never seemed tiny before.

She was the matriarch of the family

And we all tried to please her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was right to think she knew a few things.

Born in Illinois in 1897, she was the first of 13

Marie helped with everything.

Kid care was just a part of life and…

She especially enjoyed looking after chickens.

 

She was one of the fortunate who got all the

The way through eighth grade.

For a while, she was the teacher

Since teachers were hard to find in rural spots.

I’ll bet she kept the big boys in line,

Maybe with some help from her brothers.

When her mother died of female problems

Marie was already married and had two boys

Marie took in the two smallest sisters.

One trick she had was to get the four

Ready for church then rest the legs of the bed

On each dress-tail so the children wouldn’t get dirty.

Yes, very little boys wore dresses in those days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much I could tell you about Grandmother Marie.

She loved us all and went back to visit her dad and siblings.

While Granddad was a guard at the Colorado State Penitentiary

Grandmother ran her beauty shop,

They also had an apartment house

Victorian with a beautiful yard and

Chickens in a pen out by the garage.

She went to the hospital and to the morgue to “do hair”

For those who couldn’t help themselves.

 

In extreme old age, she got a job in a nursing home

Where Granddad had to live by then

She was loved in that town

And they gave her a little room

With a phone

It was her paid job to answer if it rang during the night.

Some people say, “All I Know I Owe to my Darling Mother,”

But I say all I know I owe to my darling mother and my

Stalwart Grandmother.

I’m looking forward to seeing both in Heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie and her sweet, adorable little granddaughter: me

I think I’m trying to get away. I don’t think she wanted this picture taken.

 

 

 

Tags: Families, Mothers and Grandmothers