Pioneers and Mothers

Pioneers and Mothers

May 11, 2013

The mothers I read about in my research on early Kansas, though living in a very different setting, had the same hopes for their children that we have – good health, education, and a chance to pursue their dreams.

Mothers gave their sons and daughters love, hope, and encouragement just as we do today. And yes, mothers liked to hear from their children even way back in 1856! Hannah Ropes, early settler of Lawrence, Kansas, wonderful descriptions of her new life to her mother in New England. In letters to his mother in Rhode Island, Thomas Wells described cooking outdoors, local politics, and a pioneer wedding. Though today, the communication may be just a short text message, don’t we still love that they thought to send it?

On this Mothers Day, I think of my own mother’s story. Raised on a farm in Mississippi, Avisteen herself was a pioneer. As a young wife who had never been out of the South, she traveled with a two-year-old across the Atlantic to join my father, whose Air Force career had taken him to England. It was the first of many moves my mother would undertake, always making her children feel safe and comfortable, though she herself must certainly have felt apprehensive and lonely, just as so many pioneer women did.

Perhaps all mothers, especially new ones, are pioneers, venturing forth into unknown territory, not knowing what joys and or perils lie ahead.

I hope this Mothers Day brings a story to mind for you. Maybe it will be a memory or maybe an idea for a new story.