About My Inspiration
My Mom is my inspiration.
She was my original “Remarkable Wrinklie”:
raising 11 children,
growing an incredible vegetable garden,
making maple syrup candy,
mushing a dogsled at the Iditarod,
raising German Shepards named Lassie, Duke, Buckshot, Baron, and Duke,
packing sandwiches for school picnics,
patching me up,
taking worms out of my brothers pockets,
baking bread,
joining the Marine Corps during WWII,
hanging laundry outside because it smelled better,
taking us kids on picnics to the lake,
swimming across the river and laying on the pontoon boat,
walking us all across a railroad trestle,
singing lullabies,
picking dandelions for salad,
building an ice skating rink in our back yard,
cooking,
cleaning,
and just being Mom.
I miss you.
p.s. I share memories of my Mom’s kitchen in my ebook Memory Lane Meals. You’ll find a collection of recipes from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, as well as some snippets of my life growing up way back when. You can click on and buy this ebook right here: Memory Lane Meals
p.p.s. I share even more memories in Tangerine Tango, a collection of ‘slice of life’ stories by women writers, gathered and edited by Lisa Winkler. You can buy this printed book on Amazon.com. Lisa will be donating proceeds from this book to charity.
p.p.p.s. Please be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section on any of my blog posts. I welcome your views, opinions, and any discussion. The blogosphere can get mighty lonesome without you.
Thank you!
Remarkably Yours,
Patti Winker
Patti – school picture.
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Menopause And Despair - Avoid Depression With Laughter And Love says: October 4th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
[…] About My Inspiration […]
I like your blog! Don’t give up. Your format is great and the ideas are super. Laughter helps greatly.
Oh my gosh! I’m 71 and this made my sides hurt with laughter. I’m sending this to my Catholic priest (from India)..I think this wonderful Christain humor will tickle his fancy.
Thank you, Lana. Isn’t it amazing how humor links us all? 😀
I’m so glad you stopped by and especially that you took time to leave this comment. You are so sweet to spend your time with me. Please come back and visit often.
You were one of 11? Your mom musta had the patient of a saint Miss Patti.
Oh yeah. And, yes, she did. I think she knew how to pick her battles. We lived with the “if you’re not bleeding, don’t bother me” rule. 😉 Thanks, Michele, for stopping in to visit with me again. I miss you when you’re not around. 😀
Hi Patti,
Thanks for the great comments on my posts. I signed up to follow your blog– us grandmas have to stick together! Love your blog.
Thank you so much, Lisa! I’m following you as well. btw… you’ll notice the bicycle in my header. That’s no coincidence. One of my passions is riding my bike. The other you’ll notice is in the basket. 😉 Glad we found each other. Oh, and I found you through Barb Younger of FriendForTheRide.com
I’m looking forward to more conversations.
Love this so much Patti! My Mother lived through the Depression and inspires me still every day. I’m becoming a follower 🙂
Thank you, Chris! I just headed over to MountainMornings and am enjoying my stroll through your thoughts. 😉
Thanks again for stopping by and commenting. Isn’t it great to find inspiration in our strong Mothers?
Wow Patti! Your mom mushed a dog sled in the Iditirod? What a cool mom you must have had! Where did you fit in the 11? If you don’t mind my asking.
My mother also grew up during the great depression, born in 1923, she told me stories of things she and her 5 siblings did to have fun, but also the hard work she did to help her grandparents on their farm.
Hi Mary!
Yes, my Mom traveled with one of my brothers and a niece to the Iditirod. It was a gift for her 75th birthday. She got to mush a team, dine with the racers, and met her hero, Susan Butcher. We are so happy she got to do that. She also went up north around Lake Superior (with 2 of her granddaughters) and went on a couple day dog-sledding adventure, staying overnight in a cabin along the trail, getting up with the dogs when they wanted to run (usually in the middle of the night!) and ended up buying a dog sled. She spent winters trying to show her 2 German Shepherds the ropes of pulling the sled. Yes, she was a cool Mom and a remarkable woman.
The depression was definitely a proving ground for creativity and frugal inventiveness. As kids, we learned to get along without a lot of stuff handed to us. And, yes, the things we did for fun would curl most parents’ hair today! Did you ever read this post, Mary? In A World Before Helmets
I am 4th oldest of 11 – we’re all about 1 1/2 to 2 years apart – 5 girls, 6 boys. We were lucky to have our Mom with us for 80 years, but it wasn’t nearly long enough. I still miss her every day.
Thanks, Mary, for stopping by and reading. It is incredible listening to the stories, isn’t it? I’m glad you have been able to hear some of your family stories. It’s so important to pass them on! Thanks again.
Hi Patti, thanks for stopping by and following my blog.
Donna aka Huffygirl
Thank you, Huffygirl! I look forward to reading more of your blog and getting to know you better. As you can see, I’m a big fan of bike riding also. 😉
Patti,
I’m so glad to meet you! I read your helmets post on Reader’s Choice and left a comment. My childhood was similar. Sadness for the dangers of today’s children in their very controlled environments. I want to thank you for following my blog. It honors me you would. I will definitely keep up with yours! Nice place you have here.
I saw the book below about ghost writing. I do that for my guest author, Steve, as well as my husband. Somebody’s gotta do it
Thank YOU so much, Alexandria! I’m glad we’ve connected. Reader’s Choice has been a very nice little community so far. I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog and getting to know more writers, as well. I look forward to reading more of Steve’s comments and articles, too. 😉 Thanks again!
Your mom was definitely a remarkable person. I can see how she would have been an inspiration. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Gloria. Yeah, my Mom was something. My Gramma was, too. I have a lot to live up to. I only hope that when we meet again they will both say to me; “Good job.”
🙂
Thanks again!
Bloggers Share Their Journey In A Compendium Of Posts says: July 8th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
[…] About My Inspiration […]
Dear Patti,
I just came across this poem to your mom & would love to repost it on my blog http://www.InspiredByMyMom.com
Please contact me on thru the email address provided.
Tks much & have a fab day.
Hi Betty,
I just clicked on and looked at your blog. Nice! Yes, please feel free to use the post you found here. 😀
Love this! My mom would be 94 now. I’m gonna have to check or those recipes. Thanks Patti!
I lived in Tomahawk in the early sixties and went to Bradley Elementary. A friend of mine was Patti Graeber. Family of eleven. Had a sign by mailbox: Graebers. Population 13. What a woman your mom was if this is the same Patti. Always working at home. Every time I visited, the washing machine was running. Railroad bridge next store over the river. Same Patti? You have volumes to write!
Oh for heaven’s sake!! It’s my old pal Patti! I have been away from my blog for quite some time so missed this comment. Again… OH for Heaven’s Sake!
I surely am the same Patti Graeber. I have thought of you often through the years. What an amazing thing to see today of all days. I’m feeling quite nostalgic and was just sitting down to write something on this 10th anniversary of my Mom’s passing. I am so delighted to find this comment from you. So many good memories, not just of Mom, but of growing up in our crazy household. You nailed some of the fondest memories I have – washing clothes constantly; the clothesline, the railroad bridge; and, of course, of good friends growing up… like you! It’s good to be able to share those wonderful memories with someone who actually was there and remembers them, too.
THANK YOU so much for stopping in to comment and for bringing my memories alive again. Now, on to writing my blog post. But, be assured… I am definitely going to keep in touch with you. I am back in Tomahawk again after an 11 year stint living in Florida. Most of this I have written about in this blog, so probably not news to you. And, correct me if I’m wrong… are you on Facebook? I think I’ve seen your name. Silly me! 😉
(Another funny coincidence – I woke up this morning thinking of many things about Mom, but also a strange sentence came out of the blue; “To keep friends you have to be a friend.” Didn’t have a clue where that came from but now I’m guessing right from you! Will catch up soon, eh?) Off to writing…
A Decade Of Magical Thinking – 10 Years After Losing Mom says: January 23rd, 2016 at 3:34 pm
[…] About My Inspiration […]