A tribute

Happy Mother's Day! I wanted to share a tribute to my mom.


The Amazing Norma
By Debbie Roppolo

My mother is the epitome of strength and perseverance. Though she grew up several years after the Depression, times were hard for Mama and her family. She was a simple country girl, and during those times, country people had less then everyone else. Her school and Sunday dresses were handmade of the colorful cotton material from flour or animal feed sacks. In high school, girls wearing freshly pressed poodle skirts surrounded Mama in the hallway. “Tell me, Norma,“ one would sneer, “who is the designer of the dress you’re wearing, Purina or Gold Medal?” Tears stinging her eyes, and with posture a finishing school marm would be envious of, she walked away from the group of tittering girls. Their cutting remarks only strengthen my mama’s resolve to succeed.

She was a model student, making all A’s and B’s in every class, but it was her songbird-like voice that broke her free of the “country bumpkin” stereotype.

As a teenager, she won several singing contests, earned the right to sing on the radio, and occasionally perform with country music greats such Johnny Gimble. It appeared Mama was on her way to stardom. She received an invitation to audition in Nashville for the GRAND Old Opery, but alas, it was never to be. Her career hit a roadblock in the form of a dark complected, blue-eyed soldier by the name of Roberto _________. She took one look into those sapphire-colored eyes dancing with mischief, offering unspoken promises of adventure, and knew she had found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

After several years of long distance dating filled with passionate, heart felt letters, they were wed. Mama happily walked away from her singing career, and never looked back. Most newly wedded women happily adapt to the traditional role as the homemaker, but not my mom. She stepped into the roll of cowgirl.

Working cattle was always a hectic time. Money was short, so was there was no one, except Mama and my grandfather, that helped Daddy work the several hundred head of angry cattle. On more than one occasion, Mama grimly entered the swirling dust of the corral and manipulated a thousand pound cow into an awaiting chute.

Mama was not only my father’s best “right-hand man,” she was also his best friend. They had a beautiful relationship, and there was no doubt in my mind that they loved each other deeply. Yes, my mother was a strong person, physically and spiritually, but the event that occurred on July 9, 1986, caused her world to come crashing down around her.

Daddy was an engineer for the state highway department. On the morning of July 9th, he kissed my mother goodbye, and left the house, never to be seen alive again. Later that afternoon, we received word that Daddy had been fatally injured on the job. In one brief instant, my mother has lost her best friend and the love of her life. Grief racked my mother’s body, and she resembled a broken china doll as she lay huddled on the floor. “My God! Why did you take him from me?” she wailed. Quietly, I slipped from her bedroom. I couldn’t stand to see her like that, and I didn’t want her to know I had been eavesdropping. That was the last time I saw Mama breakdown.

From that moment on, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was determined that life was not going to keep her down. She attacked every obstacle that she met with as much gusto as she had with the last. In a short time period, she became a skilled electrician, plumber, carpenter, and horse wrangler. Countless times, well-meaning friends told her, “Norma take it easy. Why don’t you find another man to take care of everything?”

Mama always shook her head in disbelief. “I don’ t want anyone else; no one can replace Roberto. I can do everything needing to be done. I have a teen daughter as wild as “Ellie Mae Clampett” that needs my attention, not another man.” Though I was in awe of her accomplishments, there have been other instances, however, that her grit could be construed as odd.

For example, Mama once had a problem with a skunk trying to burrow under her house. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to catch the skunk in a humane trap. One night, she heard the skunk digging at the side of the house. Frustrated, with flashlight in hand, she marched outside into the night. Mama pulled a skunk out from under her house by its tail, tossed it through the air and ran, while a dazed “Skunkie” landed on his feet and waddled into the dark night.

Mama taught me how to have faith in myself, and to “dream big.” She also constantly drilled into me I could do anything that I put my mind to. However, it was from observing my mother’s grit and determination that got me through tough times in my life. For that, I will always be grateful.