Remembering Mom on Mother's Day by Dan Ramey

      Mother’s Day for the first time is a time of both healing and reflection. It’s the first without mom who passed away April 12, 2010.
      I wondered how tough facing this day might be. Certainly, others have faced similar circumstances, but for our family, it was our turn.
      The last time we had an experience close to this would be Father’s Day 1994. But with dad passing in February, there was more time to prepare for it.
      Following mom’s death came the advertising campaigns for Mother’s Day, each a reminder of how “special mom is” or “bring mom to (insert restaurant here)” and “make mom’s day with (insert gift here)”. The past few weeks have been constant reminders.
      Needless to say, getting to this point to share about my mom has been an emotionally charged gauntlet adventure.
Jessie Ramey-Johnson was born in rural Louisa, Kentucky. She and her family moved to Columbus, Ohio in the late 1940’s seeking employment. Mom was never one to back down from work.
      Mom found a job as a cashier in a neighborhood store, which is where she met a young man named Bob Ramey. Dad was also from the Louisa area, so they had something in common. Next thing you know, they fell in love and began a family.
      I don’t remember her being a stay-at-home mom really. She was always doing something. She and neighbor Clara Pobst hosted daycare classes in their homes since Teays Valley Schools didn’t have a kindergarten program at the time. This is where I would meet two life long friends, Ron Fausnaugh and Doug Turnbull.
      She would become my transportation to and from church at Scioto Chapel United Methodist Church where she was also my Sunday School teacher.
I can recall riding in our Plymouth station wagon driving house to house. I’d wait in the car while mom campaigned for the American Cancer Society. She sold Avon and hosted Tupperware parties, cooked in the restaurant at Scioto Downs Race Track all to help run the household and provide for us kids.
     Just before I started elementary school she and dad had purchased the corner gas station general store, Ramey’s Sinclair at the intersection of Ohio 104 and 316. She also cooked at Teays Valley High School, worked at the Ashville IGA and Ashville Pharmacy and after a few years, mom went to work at Orient State Mental Institution. Like I said, she was a hard worker and always kept busy.
      But where she made her mark on people’s lives was her passion for baking and decorating cakes. Her final business venture not only brought pleasure to weddings, birthdays and other functions, but she also shared her decorating talents, giving lessons to other women in the area.
      While attending mom’s viewing a few weeks ago, the first visitor I encountered was one of her former cake decorating students. Many more would follow. Mom left her mark on so many who came her way.
She and dad were avid campers and when dad was elected president of the Rolling Buckeyes Camping Club that meant she became the “First Lady” of camping. They and long time friends Paul and Norma Gochenhour trekked the country, making friends along the way.
      Not long after dad died, her desire to serve continued to call, so she volunteered with Hospice of Pickaway County.
Mom then married Bill Johnson a widower who’d been in the camping club with mom and dad. The Ramey’s and Johnson’s had been friends and both were looking for companionship. They spent the next 10 years together, wintering in Florida and continuing the traveling campers enjoy.
      In mom’s final years, health issues began to take their toll. Last January after losing her oldest sister Stella, mom told me she would be next. It was then she asked me to preach her funeral. I promised, knowing it would be one of the toughest challenges I’d ever be faced with.
      My brothers, sister and I made it through that period of our lives, but had no idea how much it would take out of us in the weeks that have followed.
      This is some ways has been a difficult Mother’s Day. However, it’s been one to reflect on the good memories of the woman God gave me to call “mom”. I’ve also used the day to remember the women in my life who have stepped in when mom couldn’t be there. May God bless my sister Deb, my wife Missy and Mother-in-law Sherry.
      If you still have your mom, give her a big hug and a kiss. Thank God and thank your mom when you wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. Deep down, that’s all she really wants, to know her baby still loves her.
      Happy Mother’s Day to all.