My Wonderful Other Mom Content Faith Ballestero
Today is a day of giving honor to Mothers. I think of my Mothers everyday of my world. I can get mighty touched at just the thought of the Mothers of my life.
When I came into the Ballestero Family I was barely 18 years old. I wasn’t ready to leave my own mom and yet I thought I was. Mom had trained me well up to the 18-year-old mark. I want to insert this right here. I learned before I got married that if I wanted a good relationship with my husbands mother than I could have it. I was blessed to get into a family that loved me and I thought they cherished me right from the beginning. I still feel cherished and I cherish Mom Ballestero.
She was a very out going take charge mom and she was very expressive and she would hug you in spite of whether you knew how to hug or not. She was kind and compassionate. She was very much in charge of having a good time and cooking big and she was the life of the party. She also seemed to read right into your eyes if you were not doing well and she would not turn her head. She would get to the bottom of it and pray with you and show so much love and affection you would feel better.
Mom Ballestero came from a family of eight children and she would share stories with me of most every Sunday their family would have a big family dinner and they invited their friends and bring folks home with them and they were caring Hospitable family of Gleason’s Mom was a worshiper with all of her heart. She didn’t whisper her prayers like me she prayed with fervor to the top of her voice. You just knew God answered her prayers. And today it has affected the family strong. All of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are serving God.
Mom I remember through the years all the sweet loving way you treated me . I felt like you loved me. I married your son, but knew you would get after him if you didn’t like something he did or said to me. The great thing was you didn’t have to and I have been blessed with a fun, loving Mother in Law which I hate the mother in law jokes and it is all junk to me. I have to say you were so giving, and you loved all us kids and even made favorite deserts that we loved . The food was scrumptious and you loved to cook and serve it was a happy time. You Never acted like it was a bother. It seemed to be a delight to you.
What a good Mom you were, but when the Grand babies were born you came and stayed two weeks after my momma went home and did all the cooking and house cleaning and baby caring. The homemade chicken and noodles and roast and mashed potatoes and desserts you would go all out. I was skinny when I married and I think I got on the wrong track for my body way back because you would make desserts and I would not have a taste for them. You would say oh honey try it I made it just for you. The rest of you stayed trim enough through all that but I learned just how good home made pies and cakes were not to leave out cookie bars and brownies, and home made fresh peach ice cream. It gave me a different out look on dessert.
You were far better than any hospital care. When you came you were so good at babies and would take their bassinet into your room so we could sleep. You would take care of baby and even wrap it tight and turn it from side to side to see if it would sleep longer. Pretty soon you would bring baby to the door all wrapped tight and say softly baby is hungry. What a Mom.
What a Woman you are. I found out early in marriage how brave you are. You loved to hunt and you would tramp out into the woods with Dad Ballestero and Marty and you would go the opposite direction and sit on the stand and wait and kill what you were after. Now I tried to go one time and went back to the trailer and crawled under the covers and waited scared until you all returned. I just knew any minute a bullet would zing through the trailer and hit me. I was not used to a gun of any kind. Well I did get used to having guns safely put away in the house but not for my use. I was proud of you when your name was draw one out of ten to get to hunt Buffalo and you did get one. You made a rug out of the hide, A lamp out of the Leg and hoof, and had the head mounted. For many years somehow I allowed that big head to be above my organ at my house in South Bend, Indiana. My own Grandma Starr wanted to play the organ but could not she couldn’t stand to play and look at the Buffalo’s head and eyes starring at her.
You were so good with animals as I was saying. I remember the Mynah bird and how well it talked…too well. Then Fee Fee the little white poodle , then dad brought a monkey home from Ohio from a children zoo. I love watching monkeys at the zoo but this one decided to bite your hand and you still cared for it. It was pretty nice other wise but that tail wrapped around my ankle and I stood still but almost came unglued before it unwrapped it’s tail. One day it came screaming at me and Marty stopped it you had a nice size cage built for it in the basement like the zoo with a little seat it could climb up and sit on. Then just a few years ago before you went to live with Nila you were living in a house in Fontana, Ca and when we came there were white rabbits, many white rabbits that were wild sleeping all around the house under bushes they found a way under your house to live. You fed them and watered them daily. There were families of them you never picked them up you had their confidence enough for them to run to the dish and wait for feedings and you talked to them. Never picking them up but they were hooked on your charm and voice and the food won them. There were baby rabbits all over. You had bird feeders all around and Uncle Stan came to live with you a while and he was almost ninety and he would go to the store and buy bird feeders and bird seeds by the huge bags. You would shake your head like why does he do that. I wondered if you two realized how much alike you were with animals and enjoying the birds coming by your windows to eat and the rabbits acting like dogs in the yard running around living there with confidence.
I Love the Man you raised for me to have for a husband. Wow!! He is still mannerly and seems to enjoy being that way. He Loves God and He loves the One God Apostolic Message unwavering. He Loves our children and has been a Rock to our family. He is a wonderful writer, preacher and father and I know he loves you so much. That is wonderful because he learned from you how to be kind, and considerate of me. I Love you Mom Ballestero and I hope and believe someone will read this to you.