A Special Day to Remember

Today would have been my mom’s 88th birthday.   Below is one of my favorite pictures of her taken in Ogunquit, Maine when she was 79.  It used to be an annual day trip for us every summer to walk the Marginal Way followed by lunch at the Oar House Restaurant and followed later by an ice cream on the drive home.  We had stops along the way that we looked forward to.  One was Stone Wall Kitchens where we sampled their jams and condiments.  This picture was taken on our last walk there together.  After that, she told me that the walking was just getting too much for her.  We did continue to go to Ogunquit for a few more summers after that, but we never walked the Marginal Way together again.  

Yesterday, my sister and I gathered at my dad’s house to spend the day with him.  We visited the newly restored Fogg Library in South Weymouth.   This was the closest library when I lived at home and it was a mile away.   My mom didn’t drive till after I graduated from high school so a friend and I would walk to this library every week during summer breaks to read magazines in the cool interior and check out books.  My favorite books back then were historical novels about the kings and queens of Europe and mysteries by Daphne DuMaurier. 

Olden’s Drug Store was across the square and where most of the high school kids hung out, so if it was a hot afternoon we’d sometimes sit at the soda fountain and have a coke before the walk home.  Olden’s is still there, but the soda fountain is long gone.  

The library was closed for ten years while the renovations were made.  I do miss the huge old card files that were located right behind the librarian’s desk.  They’ve been replaced with shelves for DVD’s.  The librarian told me that they had been gone for a long time, even before the restoration began.   I guess that makes sense because, most libraries are computerized today.  The librarian looked bored though, with no books to stamp or cards to file.

After the visit, we all noticed that something seemed to be missing from the library we remembered and then realized it was the smell of the old books and oiled wood but in time, I think it will come back.

After going to the library, my dad treated us to lunch and then we went to the cemetery to plant flowers and do some clean up at mom’s gravesite. We weeded, edged, mulched and planted together as a team.   It was our birthday and mother’s day gift to her this year.  I think she would be happy.

I hope you all have a wonderful mother’s day.   Build wonderful memories for the future.

Gail