Tribute to my mother
It is Mother's Day and I though it would be appropriate to write some thoughts and memories of my mother, Pam Ketterer.
I remember the day I met her. When my mother was dying and was 100% confined to a machine beside her bed, mom (Pam) brought food for us a couple of times. With all the hours she worked at her school, not to mention being a single mom recently separated from her husband at the time, she still found time to prepare meals for myself and my three siblings. Dad couldn't because he was doing the evening weather broadcast at the Washington, DC Fox affiliate, Channel 5. Other women from church also did the same, but Mom is really the only one that sticks in my mind. Her sense of charity is something I am very grateful to have been exposed to over the course of my life. I also came to find out a couple years later that she and my dying mother had a few conversations when the meals were brought to us, and they got along quite well. Bear in mind that my father had not met mom quite yet.
So my biological mother had passed away, and my Dad was back to dating. He met mom not too far into that process and they went out an unknown-to-me amount of times. They decided to take the relationship to the next level and introduce our two respective families to eachother. We all met at Chuck E Cheese (when it was a fun place to go). Mom brought her two kids, Mar and Sondra, and Dad, of course, brought Jeremy, Jen, Jacob, and I along. When I saw that she was the one Dad had been talking about, I remember thinking "I remember her!" Anyway, the alpha test was a success. We got along with mom, and maybe more importantly to my parents, we got along well with Marc and Sondra. Marc is two months Jeremy's junior, and Sondra is almost three months Jacob's senior. So the ages they fell in fit nicely with two of my siblings.
On April 3rd 1986, they got married. This was the same day her divorce was finalized. Already, the four of us had been calling her Mom, just as Marc and Sondra were already calling my father Dad. However, there is chaos that comes with combining families. Working as a school teacher, Mom knew what kind of things kids would respond to, and how to eliminate some of the chaos. She was more or less the think tank in the early part of our new family. She initiated a program she referred to as "personal days". On a rotating basis, every child would get a day that is theirs, on a Monday through Friday basis. She went in order of birth, so I was first. If there were errands to run that day, she would take that person with her, and usually the end result was a stop for ice cream or candy or something like that. It was our choice. We always looked forward to our days with Mom (and Dad if he wasn't working). This went on for years, but appropriately ceased when a certain level of balance was acheived.
I remember a trip to the doctor's office when we lived in Colorado. I needed a physical for school, so mom took me down to Denver to get it. I asked her if I was going to get any shots, she told me "no". Turns out, I did need shots. Three of them. Apparently I looked at her as though she betrayed me. She felt so bad that she took me straight away after the pokings to get a GI Joe. All was forgiven. In retrospect though, there was really no way of her knowing about the shots.
Mom has also been my biggest supporter musically. Anyone in my family can tell you that I used to have no focus. I would easily get bored with almost anything. Music was different. Mom knew (and knows) that I am largely right-brained. With that, she felt if I took up an instrument, maybe I would be able to focus on something positive. So in the 6th grade, she got me my first trombone and I was in band class. I stuck with band until I graduated high school. She also convinced my father when I was 14 to get me a bass. She saw how badly I wanted to play rock music, and understood the passion behind my desire. She took me to my first Rush concert (Roll the Bones tour, first leg) and was blown away. She and I had a loooong conversation on the way home about how Geddy Lee was the primary reason I though bass was absolutely the instrument I wanted to play. About a month later, I had my first bass. Thanks entirely to Mom. She has also been able to watch me perform bass on 4 occasions. Twice when I was in the pit orchestra for musicals in High School, and then twice on stage in a rock setting. She saw me play the first time when I was a senior in High school, and a second time in August 2004 when I played at Alice Cooperstown in my latest endeavor, Ekosphere.
She also fed my love for Egypt. When I was in the 5th grade, she chaperoned a field trip to the Denver Museum of Natural History to see the travelling "Ramses II" exhibit. About two seconds into it, I was mesmerized. If an article or something along those lines was published, she would make sure to get it to me. She also a couple years back bought me a very well written book on the subject. It wasn't my birthday, or Christmas or anything like that. She sent it to me just because she thought I would like it. Those can sometimes be the most touching gifts of all. Again, going back to her charitable nature. Giving just to give.
She has also been a banner grandmother to my boys. When you see your mother looking on your kids with the kind of love mine does, it puts a feeling over you that really can't be expressed with the dignity it deserves. The list of things go on and on.
So Mom, this was for you. I miss you and I love you very much. These past 21 years have been a blessing to me. You are very much appreciated. I want you to know that.
I remember the day I met her. When my mother was dying and was 100% confined to a machine beside her bed, mom (Pam) brought food for us a couple of times. With all the hours she worked at her school, not to mention being a single mom recently separated from her husband at the time, she still found time to prepare meals for myself and my three siblings. Dad couldn't because he was doing the evening weather broadcast at the Washington, DC Fox affiliate, Channel 5. Other women from church also did the same, but Mom is really the only one that sticks in my mind. Her sense of charity is something I am very grateful to have been exposed to over the course of my life. I also came to find out a couple years later that she and my dying mother had a few conversations when the meals were brought to us, and they got along quite well. Bear in mind that my father had not met mom quite yet.
So my biological mother had passed away, and my Dad was back to dating. He met mom not too far into that process and they went out an unknown-to-me amount of times. They decided to take the relationship to the next level and introduce our two respective families to eachother. We all met at Chuck E Cheese (when it was a fun place to go). Mom brought her two kids, Mar and Sondra, and Dad, of course, brought Jeremy, Jen, Jacob, and I along. When I saw that she was the one Dad had been talking about, I remember thinking "I remember her!" Anyway, the alpha test was a success. We got along with mom, and maybe more importantly to my parents, we got along well with Marc and Sondra. Marc is two months Jeremy's junior, and Sondra is almost three months Jacob's senior. So the ages they fell in fit nicely with two of my siblings.
On April 3rd 1986, they got married. This was the same day her divorce was finalized. Already, the four of us had been calling her Mom, just as Marc and Sondra were already calling my father Dad. However, there is chaos that comes with combining families. Working as a school teacher, Mom knew what kind of things kids would respond to, and how to eliminate some of the chaos. She was more or less the think tank in the early part of our new family. She initiated a program she referred to as "personal days". On a rotating basis, every child would get a day that is theirs, on a Monday through Friday basis. She went in order of birth, so I was first. If there were errands to run that day, she would take that person with her, and usually the end result was a stop for ice cream or candy or something like that. It was our choice. We always looked forward to our days with Mom (and Dad if he wasn't working). This went on for years, but appropriately ceased when a certain level of balance was acheived.
I remember a trip to the doctor's office when we lived in Colorado. I needed a physical for school, so mom took me down to Denver to get it. I asked her if I was going to get any shots, she told me "no". Turns out, I did need shots. Three of them. Apparently I looked at her as though she betrayed me. She felt so bad that she took me straight away after the pokings to get a GI Joe. All was forgiven. In retrospect though, there was really no way of her knowing about the shots.
Mom has also been my biggest supporter musically. Anyone in my family can tell you that I used to have no focus. I would easily get bored with almost anything. Music was different. Mom knew (and knows) that I am largely right-brained. With that, she felt if I took up an instrument, maybe I would be able to focus on something positive. So in the 6th grade, she got me my first trombone and I was in band class. I stuck with band until I graduated high school. She also convinced my father when I was 14 to get me a bass. She saw how badly I wanted to play rock music, and understood the passion behind my desire. She took me to my first Rush concert (Roll the Bones tour, first leg) and was blown away. She and I had a loooong conversation on the way home about how Geddy Lee was the primary reason I though bass was absolutely the instrument I wanted to play. About a month later, I had my first bass. Thanks entirely to Mom. She has also been able to watch me perform bass on 4 occasions. Twice when I was in the pit orchestra for musicals in High School, and then twice on stage in a rock setting. She saw me play the first time when I was a senior in High school, and a second time in August 2004 when I played at Alice Cooperstown in my latest endeavor, Ekosphere.
She also fed my love for Egypt. When I was in the 5th grade, she chaperoned a field trip to the Denver Museum of Natural History to see the travelling "Ramses II" exhibit. About two seconds into it, I was mesmerized. If an article or something along those lines was published, she would make sure to get it to me. She also a couple years back bought me a very well written book on the subject. It wasn't my birthday, or Christmas or anything like that. She sent it to me just because she thought I would like it. Those can sometimes be the most touching gifts of all. Again, going back to her charitable nature. Giving just to give.
She has also been a banner grandmother to my boys. When you see your mother looking on your kids with the kind of love mine does, it puts a feeling over you that really can't be expressed with the dignity it deserves. The list of things go on and on.
So Mom, this was for you. I miss you and I love you very much. These past 21 years have been a blessing to me. You are very much appreciated. I want you to know that.
posted by Aaron \m/ at 1:22 PM
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