Mother's Day, 2020

An NDSU history professor, Tom Isern, and his wife, Suzzanne Kelley, the director of NDSU Press, have started producing a weekly Facebook program from their  home called Plains Folk. He’s folk-oriented and sings the praises of the old North Dakota settlers. Last Friday evening one tune contained the line about someone who trapped gophers for the bounty on their tails: “I’m gonna get a new outfit with my gopher tails this fall.”

After hearing it, my wife said don’t you remember the story your mother told about her brother, Marion (Sonny). Written on the back of this picture was her remembrance of how he’d trapped gophers until he got enough money - about $8 or $10 -  to buy the suit he is wearing in this picture. My mother is the oldest girl in the family and is seen sitting on the left.

Now, this Mother’s Day, 2020, I can’t help but think how young she was on this picture and how quickly her life passed. She was 94 years of age when she died and has already been gone six years. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.