104
June 09, 2015
On June 9, 1911, Mabel Whitney Shauck gave birth to a baby girl named Anna.
Yep, Mom would be 104 years old today. Happy birthday, Mom!
Here are 10 things about my Mom.
1. She met my Pop when his family moved into the house directly behind hers. She was 8 and he was 11, and she decided right then and there that she was going to marry him.
2. Her first date with Pop was a trip to see a baseball game -- the Takoma Tigers. She didn't even like baseball.
3. She was a crackerjack bridge player! She and my Aunt Ruth would play duplicate bridge at the Leisure World clubhouse and complain complain complain about how the other players couldn't play worth a damn.
4. A few of her catchphrases:
- I never heard of such a thing!
- My world is gone.
- This meat is as tough as a goat.
- I wouldn't dirty my teeth at that place.
5. She married my Pop in the living room of her house. Because Pop was Catholic and she was not, she was not allowed to be married in the church. (She converted almost 20 years later.)
6. She loved a good Bloody Mary, which she jokingly referred to as a "Muddy Blary".
7. She also loved white zinfandel.
8. When I went to the Antiques Roadshow in the late 90s, I asked if she wanted me to take her blue Aurene signed Steuben vase. She said, "No, that's just turn of the century." I said, "Mom, that was almost 100 years ago." "Oh my God, you're right!" she said.
9. She did not like fish, but she loved crab and shrimp. When I was a kid and Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Friday, we had waffles, or macaroni and cheese.
10. Once, when she was in her 80s, we went to lunch. As I was driving us back, she was going on and on about "today's youth". I don't remember the entire context of the conversation, but at one point she blurted "God knows I wasn't a virgin when I married your father!" I was stunned. When she realized what she had said, she tried to backtrack. "Or maybe I was. I don't remember." Whatever you say, Mom!
I miss her.
Mom and us, at her 98th birthday party.