My Mama, who I call Mom, or Mommo if I’m in a silly affectionate mood, is Kathrine Charlotte Atwood Laycock (also known as KC). She was born in Milwaukee in 1939, so she is a part of the “Silent Generation” (also known as the “Lucky Few” born after The Greatest Generation and before the Baby Boomers, also known as “The Me Generation” see my post about generations here. The Wiki page about the “Silents” of which my folks both belong, is here.) Her generation and the aspects of life growing up between the wars and during WW2 did impact my mom. She was born at the end of the Silent Generation, as was her eldest (but younger) sister, Judy; and her younger sibs, JoAnnette, and brother Philip belong to the Boomers. She spent a lot of her growing up years looking after them, which is natural for the eldest sibling. They grew up in Wauwatosa and had a cabin which eventually became Lake House on Cedar Lake in West Bend. The time comes full circle: Mom and Dad live on Big Cedar again, at Cedar Community which is a lovely retirement village.

Growing up, Mom played cello in the orchestras in school, which she continued into her college days at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She also had a radio program, “KC’s Classical Corner” on the College station. Again, the full circle is expressed: her grandson, Sam, had a radio program on a college station, too. Kathrine loved being at college where she studied History and Education. For her student teaching experience, she was placed at Whitefish Bay High School where she met an “Older Man” a sophisticated pipe-smoking drama teacher named Frank Laycock. Whooo! They got married in 1961 and moved into a sweet little house with a nice yard in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. Son Frank was born in 1964, the last of the Boomers, and a crazy first of the Gen X daughter Mary was born in 1968. Reading was king in the Laycock house and both Frank and Mary read before three, I believe. Trips to the zoo, the library, parks, The Audubon Center, and Grandparents at Cedar Lake and in Missouri were regular: as well as a few marvelous vacations. I remember one to Yellowstone and one around Lake Superior. There were yearly pilgrimages to Door County. Camping, always. She instilled in us a passion for nature. We also went to concerts and theater.

Through the years Mom had various jobs, assistant teaching at Nicolet High School and Whitefish Bay High school, working her magic with at-risk kids, all while dealing with and raising her kids at home (I was a risk all in myself), and nurturing a husband whose work often kept him working late. She was paid a small salary as an assistant, while she did the work of a full teacher. She always gave her all. The kids adored her, and she has kept in touch with some of them to this day.

What keeps her burning? Her faith. Raised in the Evangelical and Reformed, and switched over to United Methodist when she married, Kathrine and her family were members at Brown Deer United Methodist Church on Brown Deer Road. Her faith and Church are still the touchstones in her life. She eventually got a job at the church, which I think she found fulfilling.

Eventually, they formally retired and moved to Cedar Community. They have a lovely house on a huge yard and Mom loves to garden and watch the birds and animals that visit. She keeps busy… so busy sometimes I wonder if she has time to breathe! She’s a natural-born teacher and leader and church and organizations like PEO and book clubs tap her for service regularly. But I know that she also keeps a meditation and exercise practice and journals every day. She tends her body with good nutrition and movement, and her mind with reading and cultural outings. My mom is a wonderful writer, I think I got my chops (whatever meager chops I possess) from both of my literary and well-read parents.

Mommo and I have had a complicated relationship, sometimes but I know she is in my corner always with love and support. We talk almost daily and love to video chat. I can tell my mom anything, and she is ready with words of love and advice. My Mom taught me what it was to be a woman in a rapidly changing world, and how to conduct myself. She taught me how to have compassion for people in all circumstances, even if they looked or lived differently than I did. She taught me the value of charity and the healing properties of faith and prayer. She taught me to question; not to just believe blindly in anything, but to do research, and to search my heart. She taught me the value of other people’s cultures and how those values could strengthen my own. She taught me the value of words and putting my own on paper. She tried to teach me to never give up, and to finish what I started, and that’s a lesson I’m still working on. She taught me to knit. She taught me that Christos is in everyone. She taught me the St. Andrew’s Cross… an X-shaped cross with The Past is Forgiven on the left, The Future is Open on the right, All Life is Good on top and You Are Loved on the bottom. I love you, Mommo. I’m in your corner, always, too.