“Angels” and Pawprints
A Lifetime of Love, Laughter, and Tears
by
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One of those early years on the mountain we got through Christmas without snow, but on New Years the heavens opened and we had a snow storm for the record books. I usually planned a big dinner for New Years Day instead of celebrating the evening before. We invited several families from our church, and of course, all of Rich’s family. His sister Sylvia was engaged right after she graduated, and his family all came to our dinners too. So this day I was planning on a full house, with a great deal of preparation ahead of me. Waking to see the snow piling up higher and higher gave me some consternation, but Rich was sure everyone would be able to make it up. With this snow came freezing temperatures. Our water pipes were behind the kitchen wall, in the old shed, with no protection from such cold temperatures. So my first crisis arrived when I turned on the faucet and no water came forth. As Rich was trying to fix this, we could see people walking in the middle of the road, trying to stay upright in the deep snow. So began one of the most memorable New Year’s we ever had on Chehalem Mountain. The chicken was already cooked the day before, thank goodness, and sitting in a big kettle of broth, waiting for homemade noodles. So I was ok there, no water needed. As people came streaming in through the door, wet, snow covered, carrying their dishes of food, kicking off wet boots and coats, the kitchen filled with activity. Cars had been left stranded along the road, buried in snow. Rich and several of the guys were trying to get heat to the pipes under the sink and on the back wall of the woodshed. Ladies and kids busied themselves with food, tables, dishes, all the things needing done for a big dinner. Suddenly, without any warning, water came gushing down from the ceiling above the kitchen cabinets. The pipes that were frozen, were broken and now thawed. Water was everywhere! In the shelves, all over the counter, the dishes, the floor. What a mess!
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About the Book
In the memoir “Angels” and Pawprints, Jeanette Gardner continues the rest of her life story, detailing how she managed to survive all the adventures, hardships, and mishaps that accompanied raising five children born in rapid succession with a mere six years separating all of them.
Gardner, the author of Dirty Feet and Hungry Hearts, begins by sharing details of the day she left Greybull, Montana, for Billings, met the love of her life, married him after a five-week courtship, and began what she calls “the great adventure into marriage and motherhood.” As she relays her poignant and humorous experiences, Gardner divulges the entertaining antics of her five children as they grew from toddlers to teens. From eating Drano, to starting fires in the chimney, to falling from trees, and swallowing pins, Gardner’s anecdotes highlight one mother’s sometimes hilarious—sometimes tearful—struggle to survive the challenges of raising a large family where the daily goal was often to just keep everyone alive.
Gardner’s look back at the craziness of motherhood filled with gray hair, laughter, tears, heart-stopping emergencies, and a heart overflowing with love prove that the absolute best job in the world is to be a mother.
About the Author
Jeanette Mercer Gardner is the author of Dirty Feet and Hungry Hearts. She has been married for fifty-four years and is the mother of five children. She lives with her husband near Portland, Oregon, where she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.