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My family heritage will always be connected to the first day of summer.

June 21 is the day my mother was born 81 years ago under the last day of the Gemini sign represented by twins, Castor and Pollux. Some historical books have Gemini ending June 20 and Cancer starts June 21, but my mother always stuck with Gemini.

My mother lived through six decades, from the 1940’s until her death in 1995. She was definitely a product of the print era, where newspapers, books, magazines and writing checks dominated the universe. By the time she passed on, the internet was in its infancy stage. The digital era was several years away from its takeover of the world.

Things were much simpler during the days of my mother. No Social Media posts or emails existed that could make or break a person. No cyber attacks or identity thieves illegally hacking into a person’s bank account. In those days, if your bill was delinquent, all you received was a letter in the mail from those companies with a stern warning to pay the account.

I’m not sure if my mother would’ve co-existed in a society where many don’t like to work for anything. My older sister and younger brother were taught by our mother that nothing is given, you have to earn it. Quitting was never an option, just fight through the hardships and it will pass. She whipped the lazy bones in our bodies into workable shape. Two college graduates and an industrial worker came from her raising.

My mother would’ve definitely loved the girls. I can see her telling me I’m being too hard on them and I should be patient.

The two things I always listened to my mother involve football. “Always pick Alabama football no matter who they’re playing and always pick against the Dallas Cowboys no matter who they’re playing.”

Whenever I think of summertime arriving, my late mother always comes to mind.

 

James Jones is the managing editor of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at james.jones@selmatimesjournal.com.