It’s hard to believe my Mom would have been 78 today. She’s been gone for 8 years now. Her birthday has me thinking about the influence she had on me and how her perfection contributed to my eye for detail. How her need to have our home look the best on the street made me want my home to be the same.
I remember our home and yard always looking perfect and was reminded recently when a friend of mine texted me a picture of the home I grew up in, along with a picture, and said, “It sure doesn’t look like it did when you all lived there.” “They don’t keep it up like the Burns.” The house was always freshly painted, the grass always cut, the bushes trimmed to perfection and the seasonal wreath on the front door. I remember cutting the grass and being reminded by Mom to make sure I blew the grass off the driveway so it didn’t look like a mess. “It looks like Tobacco Road”, she’d say if the yard needed attention. She loved that old southern phrase and when she used it I knew it was time for yard work.
I didn’t know at the time our home looked so nice. I just thought it was normal and that was what you were supposed to do. It was part of the chore list that Mom made. Pulling weeds in the summer time, putting out fresh pine needles and the list went on. When it was time to paint my Dad was granted that chore and I was the one chosen to hold the ladder, lucky me I thought. I remember standing there for hours on end holding that ladder, wishing I was doing something else but when it was done, I sure loved seeing the end result.
Curb appeal has always been a part of my life and seeing the pleasure my Mom got from what I had accomplished still motivates me today. She always said how nice it looked which always made me feel good inside. I still crave that good feeling inside and know Mom will always be proud of whatever I accomplish.
Thank you Mom and Happy Birthday!