Penning Photography Daily

I miss my Mom.

She would be 100 this year, but lived a very full 89 years.

Jean Lenore Hartley Penning was a beauty queen, college graduate, wife and companion through thick & thin and a bountiful number of years, Mom to 8 and friend to one and all. Married to her Howard in the midst of the Great Depression, he would go off to medical school while she started the family. Later, he would close his just-beginning practice to go off to help mend those thousands fighting in World War II while Mom stayed behind and nurtured their two children. After the war ended and Dad came home, six more children came into their lives. Twenty years between the first set of diapers and the last put his first on (that would be me). All the while, Mom would make their home the center of activity.

One thing that we all knew, Mom loved purple. Every time I see a shade of purple, like this lavender flower, I would think of my mother. So, when I was visiting the Washington Park Botanical Garden, in search of color on a drab, winter day, this one called out to me.

Each of us molded by those most close to us as we grow up. My Mom’s enthusiasm for life, tolerance for all, and way of welcoming everyone, and her favorite colors are just some of the things that rubbed off on me. One small story: I recall more than once being deeply embarrassed by Mom waving at a total stranger, when the car window was down even saying “HI!” as our car passed by someone. I find myself waving and saying hi, especially walking the halls at work. Modeling behavior works.

So this one’s for Mom, who brought beauty such as this into my life and filled me with good things.

Pass it on folks. Brighten your day by waving and saying hi to someone passing by. You never know how much light you might bring into someone’s life.