Last March my Brother and I met to place our Mom by our Dad in Mankato’s Woodland Hills Cemetary. We didn’t have a funeral but on my way down to Mankato I called one of my Mother’s friends to explain that we would be interring her on Saturday. I asked if she could call a half dozen friends of Mom’s who had jointly owned and run a popular boutique called Harpies Bazaar. I was thrilled when they gathered at the Gravesite the next day and listened as I told them about our Mother’s life and the last few years. They joined me in my Grandfather’s favorite song Wayfarin Stranger and then invited us to go out with them to breakfast.
We shared stories for a couple hours and one of my Mother’s friends told me how Mom had made her a “Little old lady who swallowed a fly” for her elementary school classroom. She just sent me a picture of it and I was pleased. I had no idea how my Mom managed it. You can see the critters from the fly to the horse each of which slide down a channel my Mom made from the old lady’s mouth to her tummy.
I told all the Harpies that I hoped to write a little coffee table book of my Mom’s life and her artwork. That’s why her friend made sure to send me this.
It would be far more gratifying for me to write about my family (for a small circle of my friends and family) than it would be to expose the warts and blemishes of the Duluth School Board. Please Federal Court…… award Art his attorney fees, please, please, please.
