The Fiery Redhead

When I was a girl, I was often slightly afraid of my angry, red-headed Mother. She could swear, slam doors, was unpredictable and sometimes called me “stupid.” But my mother changed drastically over the years. She began attending church when I was eleven. She became quieter, kind, and so sweet. She transformed into the woman I knew most of my life – meek, quick to help others, and very loving. Everyone loved her. But, like most mothers, she had a lioness inside, ready to protect her family.

My mom died 10 years ago, and at a family reunion shortly after her death, one of my aunts commented that my mother used to be a wild one. I begged for an explanation, but got only 2 stories.

One of Mom’s sisters was dating a guy Mom didn’t trust. One night, when the guy was dropping off my aunt but they were still in his car, and the goodbye seemed to be taking an exceptionally long time, I was told that my mother went out to his car, opened the car door and pulled my aunt out of the car, telling the guy that he wasn’t good enough for my aunt, slamming the door and pulling my aunt inside the house.

The best story was one I got out of my uncle’s wife. She said that my mother was upset with a guy that she dated before my dad. She was so mad that she threw a knife at his head and it stuck in the door jamb right next to his eye. That was pretty legendary in their family.

But I did not get any more stories out of my aunts, they were afraid that my mother wouldn’t want us to know those things about her. Of course we do! But my mother’s past will always be a mystery to me, and I guess that’s probably typical. But I wish that I could have known that fiery redhead a little better.