memories

This is an excerpt from an email from a daughter (I have edited it a bit): Mom says she's 73 today! This is a tribute to my good mother...
 
Does anyone remember LaVern, Marilyn and little Darla? Darla was Linda's age?  Well, LaVern and Marilyn are now members in the same church as us (our two congregations merged), and as it happened they came home from church with us for the evening the other day for visiting, games, supper and worship. So I get out pictures to show; a great conversation piece.
 
Suddenly Marilyn lights up! One picture sent her remembering us; we were neighbors, and she detailed one special 35-something-year-old story I will now share with you.
 
After we'd moved away, she said, Mom and Dad would come back for business, bringing Linda along and two little lunch boxes with lunch in them. (No one remembers for sure now, but perhaps Marilyn babysat Linda while the 'business' was transpiring?) She described how one time when Mom arrived with Linda, she didn't bring the two lunch boxes but one big bag of groceries, saying she didn't have time to make the lunches but they could make lunch from the groceries instead. Marilyn recalled that was a month they were very poor and didn't have enough money for much food. Mom didn't know that, but when time came for Linda to go home, Mom insisted Marilyn keep all the groceries, even what wasn't used. This stuck with Marilyn, recalling in particular a pound of much-needed margarine in the bottom of the bag. 
 
Now, I'm sure this was during the time we were living in Enterprise/Joseph. And of course we were wealthy and had lots of food and plenty of everything hahaha! No, this is our mother, who, even when struggling to provide for her own family, would give to others. She doesn't even remember this incident today (no surprise), but it made a huge impression on the younger mother and her family. Isn't God good!

Dave here again: A good shrink might untangle all of this. Miriam would give to help others even as she sometimes ignored her own family. My daughters tell of Christmas's when their mom would buy spendy fruit and nuts and put them in baskets to give to our photographic competitors (who did nothing at all for us), and there would be none of those goodies for the family.

My daughters don't tell me of many bad memories from growing up, but this is one sore spot.

There is something terribly disjointed here and I have never been able to really understand.