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Journals of Yesteryear: May, 1980

"Momma Didn't allow no finger thumping"  was first published in the Nacogdoches, Texas, Sunday Sentinel on Mother's Day 1980.  It appears here in a primitive facsimile of its original newspaper format to illustrate its age and its essentially ageless tribute to Marie Josephine Wilson Dill, my mother.  On rereading it now, I am amazed at how little I would change.  Of course I could add more stories, enough for an Anna Karenina of the Texas Plains.  But for now I will just add to my mother's list of accomplishments that she taught Sunday school in the Methodist Church throughout most of her adult life.  All levels. But she seemed to prefer whatever class either I or my brother was in.  I also left out the fact that she was often the pianist at the Sunday night services which drew a smaller, more informal attendance where she was glad to be of use and not too self-conscious about her limited skills as a musician. She was devout until the end saying more than once on the subject of evolution, "I don't care what they say, I didn't come from a monkey."  She lobbied against my going to the University of Texas because she thought I would lose my religion.  It was funny to my friends and me at the time, but as in so many other things, she was right. I also have to confess that my dreams (laid out at the end of this 25 year old essay) of providing a nurturing environment for the nurturing women I have known in my life, have fallen far short of both their expectations and mine.  I've always lived in my head.  Mothers rarely enjoy that luxury. This Journal of Yesteryear  is dedicated to the memory of my mother and to other good mothers I've known, and to the childless women  in my life who have at one time or another been forced to rely on their maternal instincts to save me and others around them even while feeling, themselves, like deer in the headlights.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you. Larry L. Dill Waynesville, N.C. May 1, 2004

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