WEDNESDAY WOMAN – MY MOMMA TEETA!

Over the years I have been blessed to meet many inspiring women. I’m dedicating Wednesdays to women whose lives have really touched me in some way – big and small!

My first Wednesday Woman is my Mother, Therese (a.k.a. Teeta). She was born Marie Therese Brown in Dublin, Ireland, on the 3rd of September 1922 and died on the 8th of December, 2016. Yesterday was her birthday. She would have turned 97, but in my heart she is forever 29! Beautiful, elegant, wise, hardworking and kind.

Teeta was an archetypal Virgo – in fact she was the most Virgo-ish of people I have ever known! A perfectionist to the very end. Well maybe not, she had given up chocolate for a special intention and in the last few weeks of her life threw that one out the window and ate chocolate like nobody I knew…well maybe yours truly! Now I know who is responsible for making me a chocoholic! She was incredibly hardworking, pragmatic, dutiful, modest and private. Yet, behind all her shyness, she had a warm and deeply romantic heart. Fortunately, her Prince did come…and she truly deserved all the happiness dear Daddy brought her.

Life in the early days was not easy for Teeta. Her beloved father, John, died when she was just 8 years old and that is when the burden of responsibility and self-sacrifice knocked on her door. As the eldest of three sisters, she then assumed the role of father and worked diligently beside my grandmother in the family Post Office, shop, and guest house. It was a busy life and to the best of my knowledge, neither my grandmother or mother ever had a holiday. It was heads down for both of them as work dominated their lives, you could say 24/7. As Postmistress, telephones rang throughout the night and somebody had to answer them!

When I think about her life, I marvel at her stoicism and the way she accepted life as it was – and not how she wished it could be! She was a city girl at heart but accepted her life in the country managing the family business with my Dad. She was very clever at school and wanted to be a Domestic Science teacher, but had to forego her own dreams to go with the family flow. It was always self-sacrifice, work, and then more work!

My sisters and I were always the best dressed kids in town. Teeta would bring us to a dressmaker a few miles outside town and she would design all our beautiful gowns so that nobody had dresses like us!  As a fashionista, she instilled in me a love for fashion and the importance of making the best of yourself. So now I can blame my love for chocolate and fashion on her. What else? She was a firm believer in Astrology and would never hire an employee in her business without first checking out their astrological information. Smart woman! So now, the list is growing…chocolate, fashion, astrology…

Keeping the best for last, she was a very decent human being and believed in the goodness of God, the power of prayer, and the importance of being kind. She had a soft place in her heart for those who were sad and troubled. And did everything in her power to alleviate their suffering in any way she could. Volunteering with the Homeless is something she would approve of 100%.

Rest in Peace Darling Momma Teeta…until we meet again.

Hugs,

Patricia xxx