I met my mother’s best friend, Pat, for lunch this summer when I went to Portland for a visit. Lunch with Pat for me is far more than a shared meal. Something today made me long for a lunch date with Pat. In Pat’s smile I can see decades of laughter shared with my mother. In the special glint of her eyes I can see the mischievous moments she … [Read more...]
Vacancy Left in the Wake of Death
Two years ago today I held my mother’s hand as she took her last breathe. Death leaves a vacancy in your life that no one can take up residence in. The loss of my mother did not leave a faint impression like a foot print in the sand that can easily washed away. Her absence has instead felt more like the loss of a limb for a tree. “The … [Read more...]
Skagit Valley by Kelley Mohs
My mother loved the Skagit Valley with the fields of tulips that dominated the area during the Spring. … [Read more...]
Make Christmas Memories
Christmas time is full of memories and opportunities to make new memories. In my childhood family we had a lot of Christmas traditions, some we picked up in various countries, some from my parents childhood and others that my brother and I made up. Many of my favorite memories of childhood revolve around the Christmas holidays. I don’t … [Read more...]
Fierce Love Blurs Negative History
When I was a child my mother never let me use coloring books. She didn’t want me to learn to color within the lines. She taught me to use the entire piece of paper when I colored. She taught me that the sky should take up at least half of the page and not be a tiny blue line at the top of the page. She taught me to use all the colors in the Crayola … [Read more...]
Lofer by Kelley Mohs
Lofer is a market town in the Pinzgau region of Salzburg in Austria. This church sits in the center of town. It captured my mom's imagination with this artistic rendition of the perfect picturesque European village. … [Read more...]
Pink Tulips by Kelley Mohs
This painting Pink Tulips with from a photograph my mom took in the Skagit Tulip Festival. I always loved this painting. For at least the last year of my mom's life it hung in her kitchen. I always loved it. I recently inherited it from my dad and it hangs in my home. One of the reasons I loved this painting so much is that it reminded … [Read more...]
Hall of Fame Honors for My Mom
Today my mom is being inducted into the Hall of Fame for Fine Arts, by her Saint Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck, North Dakota. My mom, Helen “Kelley” Mohs, was only 69 when died February 9, 2011 surrounded by family in the comfort of her home. My mom was born on October 29, 1941 in Bismarck, North Dakota to Clement and Teresa (Hager) … [Read more...]
