Clouds in My Coffee: Favorite Photo (Week 3

My mama, Nettie Lynda Lindbeck Mohney Davis, was born March 24, 1937 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Her brother, Lauren, and sisters, Ladeen and Lavonne were 6, 4 and 2. Her sister, Marlene, was born 2 years later. They were not born to wealthy parents. Laurel and Evalyn, worked hard to take care of the children.

Mom talked of swimming in the irrigation ditches, and of Christmases with few presents. An orange in their stocking was a treat. Grandmother made their clothes, some from feed bags. But one day, a traveling entertainer stopped at their home, and they were able to afford a pony ride and picture. This picture of my mom on that pony has always been one of my favorite photos.

Some other photos show a little of their home and lives.

Ladeen described a little of their struggles.

"It amazes me now that she worked like a field hand on the farm, yet had all four of us girls bathed and in rag curls on Friday night, so we could have "Shirley Temple curls' for Sabbath school and church. I wonder if Lauren felt left out. Girls just require more "fixin' up" than guys do!

Mama made all of her clothes and ours- mostly from chicken feed and flour sacks. They came in nice florals, chacks and other prints. She made us pretty ruffled dresses and pinafores. I was never happier than when Mama made herself and me matching skirts. We called them our mother-daughter skirts and had our picture made together in them. I don't know how she managed to keep house, sew, can fruits and vegetables in season, and work on the farm long hours- or where she got the energy"?! Lauren was at Daddy's side working like a man from the time he was 4 or 5! We did learn responsibility though, something lacking in most kids today!

I NEVER WILL FORGET HER CATCHING CHICKENS WITH A LONG STICK (llike a broom handle) with a crooked wire on the end. She laid them over a stump and chopped their heads off with a hatchet. After they wer tied on the close line awhile to let the blood drain off, she'd dip them in a big pot of boiling water, and we had to help pluck out the feathers. She sold the chickens to restaurants in town. Wet chicken feathers smell as bad as a wet dog!"

Lauren wrote: . "Totally unselfish was she and dedicated to her children. She put off her formal education with the birth of her first child, but then the children kept on coming, four beautiful, talented girls born after her son in the farm and ranch country of New Mexico. There, Life was hard during the depression but Mother was there, champion that she was, working in the fields, driving tractors, working cattle like the men and yet, still able to tend the house and raise her children under often extreme conditions of climate. That was a test of her mettle and a measure of her strength as a woman."