Memories of Mom

 

My mom was born on April 18, 1947 to Gerald and Evelyn Aasboe. She married my dad, Paul, on February 12, 1977 in Elim Lutheran Church in Osakis, MN. She went home to be with her Lord and Savior on June 9, 2022. In the photo above, my mom is on the left and her sister, Joan, is on the right. 

I have several sweet memories of my mom and time spent with her and would love to share some here with you. 

My mom loved her coffee and donut. We would go shopping at Hy-Vee in Watertown and would stop by the deli first so she could have a donut and coffee. Of course, going with her meant that I got a donut too! I would usually pick the jelly filled donut with frosting and sprinkles on top. I am biting my tongue right now to keep myself from commenting on the amount of sugar we were eating! 

My mom loved her flowers. Dad created a few small flower beds in our backyard. Mom planted strawberries in one and flowers in the other. At one time, we had a cat named Socks and he would take naps in the strawberry patch! It was obvious that he had been there! After I left home, I would purchase gift cards for mom from Menards so that she could purchase flowers for her small flower beds. 

My mom and I shared a love for Laura Ingalls Wilder and would watch Little House on the Prairie when I got home from school at 4 pm as I rode the bus home. We would watch Little House together. We also lived not too far from DeSmet, SD, where Laura spent the last years of her childhood and first four years of her marriage to Almonzo. During the summer, there are outdoor plays put on that usually feature around one of Laura's books. I remember going there at least once and watching one of these plays. 

My mom wanted opportunities for us to experience music, sports, and character building activities. She signed me up for piano lessons in first grade and I continued to take piano throughout my school years. I even played the violin for a year in 6th grade. She signed Nathan and Daniel up for piano lessons as well but they didn't last very long. I can't remember if Josh ever took lessons. She also signed us (me, Nathan, and I think Daniel) up for 4-H. I remember we made pillows, gave demonstrations (I was so nervous!), painted ceramics, and other activities together in our group. I also learned to sew my own clothes, purchased some to model in front of a camera, built a bookshelf with my dad, raised rabbits (not for show though), and a few other activities. Ask Nathan about his sugar (or rather salt) cookies that he made for Achievement Days! 

For Christmas one year, we made homemade picture frames for our grandparents with our family photo inside. We created them out of cardboard and some Christmas cloth. I remember that while we were making these, we were also watching an old B&W rendition of A Christmas Carol on TV. I believe Uncle Ben still has his copy! It may be a little dusty as well. ;)

Any opportunity to cook with mom was special! We would make Christmas cookies together before the holidays. We made molasses cookies, spritz cookies, sugar cookie cutouts, rosettes, and more. She made the rosettes with dad's help. I remember those being a source of great frustration as they struggled to get them not to stick to the rosette iron. 

My mom had a lot of patience as we were a crazy bunch with lots of energy! During summers, we would jump on our bikes and go for long bike rides, spend most of the day outside playing way in the backyard building roads for trucks, playing cops and robbers, climbing trees, collecting rocks from the railroad tracks, walking down the tracks to the bridge and having our club meeting (club with no purpose!), making mud soup, climbing the outbuildings, and much more! I imagine she loved it when we were playing outside! 

When my parents had their 25th wedding anniversary, I sent out invitations for people to meet in our church basement. Seeing my parent's engagement photos, I thought it would be a fun idea to re-create some of their photos. In their engagement photos, there is a cute photo of them peeking at each other from around a tree. I think I re-created that one. But also thought it would be great fun to get them in a tree and take a few pictures! I remember it was such fun and lots of hilarity ensued as dad and I worked together to get my mom in one of our trees in our front yard! 

This is one of my parent's engagement photos from 1977. 

Do you have memories of my mom? You are welcome to share them in the comments below!

This is our whole Ramse family one of the times we were all together at the farm in McIntosh, MN. My grandparents, Art and Elmyra, uncle Ben, uncle David and aunt Miriam with their kids Kayla and Jonathan. They were missionaries in Nepal so would come home about once every 2 years. Then my parents, Paul and Shirley, along with the four of us, myself, Nathan, Daniel, and Joshua. 

And one more photo of my parents. A really nice one. :)