2021: O – Mama in Photos…
I’m back for my sixth year (2021)… can you believe it… of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and I’ve had quite a time in deciding on my “theme.” I had a few running through my head, but as I lost my mother last November, I thought I’d honor her through the many photographs I have of her… and tell the story of the photograph… as every photo has a story.
I’m fortunate that my mother had many photos of herself growing up… and I’m honoring her this year as the theme of my April A to Z… especially as was she was an April baby. Mama would have turned 91 this year… but she’s now back home celebrating this birthday with her parents and brother on the farm… where I believe she was always the happiest. The past few years my mother was fighting off dementia, while still managing to live alone until the last couple months of her life. I miss her every day… thinking of her daily and remembering all she did for me. She was the storyteller… She supplied me with my stories… and it’s because of her, that I write!
O… Out and About in Photos
Out and About checking all the scarecrows (that’s what they called them) in Hoschton, Georgia… who were vying for the most scarecrows in The Guinesses Book of World Records… and believe me, they were everywhere! Here’s mama with all the gunslingers in town… and she roped in her granddaughter Rose for a photo. The 1,700 real residents of Hoschton had hoped to nearly triple their population with 4,000 scarecrows and break the Guinness World Record for “Most Scarecrows in One Location.” (Sadly they didn’t make the book, but everyone had fun!)
Mama couldn’t decide who her favorites were! Personally I think she was partial to the man in black!

While in Athens, Georgia for lunch… mama spied the “big” Georgia Dawg… and quickly posed for a photo. Everything in Athens is all about the “Dawg”… and they are everywhere you turn.
We were heading inside to rummage through one of the many antique shops in mama’s hometown… but not before she pretended to admire the flowers… LOL… mama was really trying to decide what she was going to break a piece off… on the way out. And I bet she did just that! Granddaughter, Melissa, was her accomplice that day.
Out and about with my Ga “Sis” Donna on this day… enjoying lunch at The Blue Willow Inn, located in Social Circle, Ga. The restaurant is set inside a southern antebellum home… and on Sunday afternoons, you’ll find men and women dressed in the period of dress, so possibly a Southern Belle or a Southern Gentleman might offer you a glass of sweet tea to sip on the veranda while rocking and waiting for your table… unfortunately we chose the wrong day and missed them! The front porch is full of large rockers… for you to your southern sweet tea… what could be better! It was one of the most popular restaurants in the area… but sadly has now closed after years. (Not sure why mama was making this face, but I vaguely remember her saying something like, “should I look like this?” I think my son was taking the photo… and caught her off guard, but it’s a keeper!
L. to R. rocking… my son Steve, Mama, Rose (daughter in law), Anna (Rose’s mom) and my daughter Melissa!
The Blue Willow Inn
The Georgia Dawg “scarecrow” football team, complete with onlookers…
Looked more like the walking dead along the road… Mama pushed grandson, Steve, to get in on some of the action… not sure why she didn’t want to get roped that day… guess she was sharing the fun!
Mama (2006) at grandson Stephen’s wedding… she couldn’t resist a photo with the wedding car… if the keys had been in, she might have taken it for a spin! Have to keep your eye on her every minute…
… and before I could blink, she wangled the driver to pose with her!

Here was the “real” wedding couple of the day… mama’s grandson Steve and new granddaughter Rose! It was a fairy tale wedding day… and so glad Mama was able to come and enjoy their day!
And a few years later… Mama was chasing granddaughter Ella down a Georgia street… in her flip flops!
We sure had lots of fun on our “Out and About” days with you Mama… Thank You for spending so much time with us… we made lots of memories!
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My previous years of A to Z Challenges:
- 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
- 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
- 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
- 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.
- 2020: A to Z Family Stories… writing the stories of my husband’s family.

For more A to Z of Mama in Photos… click HERE!
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