My mother was one of the most lovable people in the world.  She was hospitable to my friends and especially loved to cook for them.

She was very strict with me.  I got my fair share of whoopins.  Her favorite quote to let me know I was getting in trouble was, “Are you looking to get some willer tea?”  She was threatening to go get a switch from a tree and whip my legs with it.  I don’t think we had a willow tree but I’m sure any little twig would do.  I was a pretty good child because I don’t enjoy pain and I knew if she threatened willer tea, I’d better cool my jets.

I remember once (and only once) running from her when she was going to spank me.  I think I got it with a thin wood board, learned a valuable lesson, and I never ran from her again.

I had many nightmares as a child and mother would get up and come lay next to me until I fell back asleep.  I loved the smell of her.  She smelled of talcum powder and Prell shampoo.

My parents often played music and sang together.  My mother had this tiny little whiney voice and Daddy had a full bass voice.  They sounded wonderful together.  Daddy told me how he met my Mother.  He said he and some friends were going to attend a certain church because a girl he was interested in was singing.  He said when he saw my mother and heard her sing, he forgot all about that other girl.  From that time on, she was his girlfriend. He told me after she passed away that she had been his girlfriend for seventy-six years.  It broke my heart.

My parents were very religious and almost everything was sinful.  I remember once my girlfriends and I were dancing in the living room, probably to American Bandstand.  My mother came into the room and began to do the Charleston.  I was totally astounded.  I had never seen my mother so happy and energetic.

When I was in Junior High School, I had a good friend named, George.  George was chubby and loved to come to my house because mother would always fix him something to eat. George had a crush on me but I had my eyes on someone else.

George asked me out in front of my mother once and I told him I couldn’t because I didn’t have anything to wear.  My mother spoke without thinking and asked George if he had ever seen me naked.  George turned a hundred shades of red.  My mother realized what she had asked him and quickly left the room.  I’m sure George told all his friends and mine what she had asked him.

Mother was kind, innocent, and welcoming to all my friends.  Her specialty was these hamburgers that she cooked up in a pressure cooker with diced onions.  They were reminiscent of White Castle burgers.  Everyone exclaimed that Mother Goose made the best burgers in the world.  With the last name of VanHoose, all of us were nicknamed “Goose” by our friends.  She naturally was Mother Goose.

I wasn’t surprised at the overwhelming attendance at my mother’s funeral.  So many people came up to me and told me they had loved her so much and would miss her.  Sometimes, I miss her too.

Peace be with her.