Henry shares a family picture and story on Mother's Day
Mother's and Father's days
by Henry Burt Stevens 05/14/2006 authorsden.com
Pictured above are my mother, May Elvira Clark Stevens, and my father, Joseph Kent Stevens.
It is my favorite photo of my parents because it captures their essence better than any picture of either alone or together.
By essence, I mean a composite of all the words that would describe these two people and their life together.
Right away you can see these folks are pleasant and kind. You'd be right if you guessed they had many faithful friends, accumulated over many years. My mother was a letter writer and kept up with the people in their lives. My father was a face to face person; between them they were a team at friendship.
The picture was taken by May's brother, Francis Atwood Clark. It was taken in the house that May was born in. Francis was born in a house across the street, and carried to this newly built house when he was one year old.
Francis and Joe were roomates at Mount Herman School, a boarding prep school, where they majored in smoking and minored in attending class. One of Joseph's specialties was chewing tobacco and spitting in a can he hid on the window ledge outside. Joe chewed all his life, mostly Red Man. People were always surprised to learn this because Joe was always a sharp dresser and perfectly groomed.
Francis brought Joe home from Mt Herman over a holiday. May and Joe stayed up late the first night talking and ended up spending their whole lifetimes together. They were born just 33 days apart, May 4 May 1908, and Joe 6 June 1908.
Francis wrote his own obituary and listed Joseph as his best friend. May and Francis lived into their middle 90's and Joe lived into his middle 80's.
These people had a strong influence on me, which I acknowledge and celebrate on Mother's and Father's days.
Henry - What a treat to read TODAY about your Mother... and your Father. You, apparently, came from a line of loving people, and your writing shows it. It's well sritten, and reads like a love story... which it is. Thank you.
Since you're not one of my "Trackers," you may have missed my Mothers Day contribution. It's title is simply, "Mama!" - which she surely was not... simple. It's almost 90% the real mother I grew up with.
- Bill
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