My mother was born during the war years to both Italian and Polish parents. She grew up in La Salle, IL, an hour outside of the Chicago area. She loved making – and eating – many different types of soup. I remember vividly, she made daily soups for my father’s business, The Cigar Store. Monday was Bean Soup, Tuesday was Vegetable Beef, Wednesday was Chicken Noodle, Thursday was Creamy Potato Soup and Friday was Chowder or Tomato or Onion or Cheddar Cheese and Broccoli or whatever she wanted to make and Saturday and Sunday’s was Raviolis & Chicken Broth. Every day was also homemade Chili and they were all delicious. Only now do I wish she would have given me the recipes!
My mother, like my dad, was very enterprising and she too had her own businesses.
My mom opened Priscilla’s House of Gifts and it was an exclusive gift shop filled with greeting cards, candies, dolls and many other gift items. She recently shared with me how it saddened her to close the shop and she wished she had never let it go.
She also ran the Landmark Banquet Facility, and I guess that’s where I caught the catering bug. The work ethic was always there because in between all of this she found time to get her LPN degree; Licensed Practical Nurse.
She enjoyed her royal blue Cadillac and she always felt important and successful driving that car. Her favorite perfume was Oscar de la Renta and she loved her jewelry and dressing up and putting make-up on. It always made her feel pretty and presentable. Gardenia Plants and Gardenia Flowers were her favorite.
Her favorites were Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers and Kris Kristofferson (she loved Kenny and Kris’s beards and that’s why my Dad had a beard all those years.)
After her mother Agnes passed away, my mom was never really the same. My Nani (Agnes) was a remarkable woman and I know they are together again and I truly know and believe they are both mothering and watching over me now more than ever before. I’ve always felt my Nani’s presence and now I must say I feel my mother’s presence more than ever before and she’s telling me to not be afraid anymore because she will not allow anyone to hurt me.
Truth be told, when my mom was younger, she struggled and even tried to take her own life. I was the one that found her and she was rushed to the hospital and saved. Life is funny, she recently thanked me for that and it was a part of our healing and bond of faith and love.
My mom was a diabetic her entire life, but still, she loved and enjoyed her sweets. She suffered from poor health for years including dialysis treatments five days a week and struggling with amputation of a finger and daily pain. She did have and keep her faith up until the end. She went into cardiac arrest and they couldn’t revive her; but knowing she went without suffering is what I prayed for her. I know she went to heaven and is one of my angels; my Mother Angel.
The relationship between me and my Mom was not always easy breezy, it was difficult at many times. I am however; eternally grateful and so very fortunate that both of us decided to open up and be honest and change that in the past several years or so.
We came to a place of mutual respect and understanding . . . and inner tranquility. We spoke of many things and were able to sort out of a lot of junk in the way that only mothers and daughters can do. Admissions, transgressions, forgiving one another and knowing that no matter what would happen she had my back and I would have hers; we both kept that until the very end; speaking the day before her death and ending the call with I love you always and forever…
She also revealed how she was proud of me for standing up for myself and others and to never let jealousy or hatred into my heart. She told me she wished she had my tenacity, strength and determination. Those words I will treasure because they were from my Mom that I now know.
My mom told me when I was little, she tried to dress me like her and also do my hair like hers and that looking back she tried to make me like a mini her but she realized the older I got I was not like her and so much so that she wished she was more like me – I told her she should never have doubted who she was and that she is in a place of faith now and cannot change the past.
We talked in great details about her death and her personal wishes. She asked what I wanted of hers and I said nothing with the exception; I would really like the photos. She had a humorous moment and said good luck with getting those and laughed. Then we laughed together.
For R & R, she enjoyed to paint, draw and crochet. She also loved Christmas and celebrating the holidays with family. Like so many from her generation, my mom was good at keeping secrets, but at the end she broke the silence and shared it and it brought us that much closer together as adults. She also had a gentle and forgiving side where faith, forgiveness, peace and love came into our lives. There is no room for the past resentments, fear or anger. She was and will always be my Mom; she gave me life; the greatest gift and blessing and I thank her.
And I love her for sharing the truth and realizing she is mothering me from the other side. Thanks mom for bringing me into this world. I love you dearly and though you may not know it, you are with me more now than ever before. Because of our talks, I am in a state of acceptance and understanding, peace and love. You’re always in my heart.
I am so proud of my father for taking care of her right up to the end. Thank you dad! You were always No. 1 in her eyes.
Priscilla Wenskunas, 74, of Sun City, AZ – formerly of La Salle, IL, passed away July 29, 2015, at Banner Boswell Hospital. She is survived by her husband, John Wenskunas Jr., her sister, Janet, and step-sister, Betty, her son, John Paul, her daughters, Tina & Patricia, five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.
If you would like to join me at her Celebration of Life, please let me know and I can provide you the details. We will all have soup, bread and tootsie rolls together. I told her I would honor her with a mass at my Church, Rosary Reading and start a Memorial Fund to help children with artwork and she said to start with my grandchildren.
Now I know why my Mom wanted me to research and study St. Therese and to pray to her and shared that she’s in my heart and soul. Wow!
All that matters is love… Demand of Love… Heaven in all Love…
With Faith, there is Hope….
PW
Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
