The Mom of Resourcefulness

         My mother not only used resourcefulness to sew my wardrobe, she applied it to our modest living space.  Early on, creating a homey, comfortable environment for her family became a high priority.  Given our scarcity of living space—just six small rooms and a bath for a family of seven--and limited finances, trying to transform our home into something special must have posed considerable challenges, but Mom seemed undaunted.  She found a store that had deeply discounted drapery fabric so she could make curtains for the windows in the living room, dining room and den.  When she discovered a curio cabinet that looked irredeemable at a used furniture store, she got to work refurbishing it, scraping off the shabby, worn finish and replacing it with a new coat of varnish.  Seemingly undeterred by a limited budget, Mom even convinced our landlord to forgo our rent for a few months.  In exchange, we agreed to perform minor renovation of the second floor.  Mom, my brothers, my father and I all pitched in, clearing off wallpaper and plastering joints.  The bright, newly sewn multicolored fabric curtains hung in majestic brilliance.

         Just being with Mom back then felt special and being included in her projects magnified my admiration of her creativity and energy.  I never knew what to expect from her creativity. On one occasion, she spied an abandoned steamer trunk on a neighbor’s tree lawn.

         “Children, I want that trunk,” she told us, "because I’ve got an idea.”  My brothers and I soon hoisted it up the staircase to the second floor.  We then proceeded to clean it out, scraping the paper thin lining away wherever we could.  Before long, under Mom’s direction, we were cutting pictures from magazines and creating a beautiful decoupaged storage container for books and my father’s back issues of National Geographic magazine.

            On other occasions, I’d simply assist her, standing or sitting beside her in the kitchen, making a pound cake from scratch, preparing layer after layer of baked macaroni and cheese, creating neat stitches in a newly sewn garment, or mixing up a batch of cookie cutter Christmas tree decorations (straight from directions on the side of the Arm & Hammer baking soda box.)  And during these times, it felt like only the two of us existed.  I had what every girl probably wants from the mother she loves—approval and a chance to have her all to myself.