“Family…where life begins and love never ends.” This is the mantra on the wall in Loretta’s room, at Autumn Leaves of Northwest Austin. When you think of mothers, you can’t help but think of our special resident. She always has a smile, and a quick, smart, response to any comment. Her sense of humor is so contagious – you cannot walk away from her without feeling better. Loretta is what some might call a Super Mom.
She grew up in San Antonio, and married Art in 1950. They were married 63 years before he passed away. During that time, they had 7 children, 12 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.
Loretta is an avid bridge player and bowler. Her husband, Art, was a professional bowler, and is in the Hall of Fame in San Antonio.
Loretta loved to exercise – she would get up before the children in the morning to do so. She was always the first one up and the last one to bed. She kept canned goods under the sofa to use as weights, and the broom nearby for stretching and twisting. When she retired, you would find her walking everywhere around the neighborhood. She especially liked walking to Mass.
She was always playing with the children. She pitched and threw, took them swimming and to the park for picnics. While playing hide-and-seek one day, Art came home from work to find Loretta atop a telephone pole – she was six-months pregnant! The children never found her!
The children weren’t allowed to watch television, and at mealtime all nine of them had to sit together around the table. When other parents grew melancholy for leaving their kids behind on the first day of school, Loretta would march right in with her seven youngsters singing, “Oh happy day!”
“She is quite a character,” said her daughters. When asked about stories, they each hesitated, then chuckled and said that there were tons of stories; however, they were concerned that they weren’t all appropriate for print. Like the time Loretta struck her husband in the behind with her fork as he walked by, or all the times she helped the nuns with the “fill the pantry” project, but took them wine and beer after work.
When her youngest was in third grade, Loretta decided to take a part-time job with an optometrist. She was so efficient that after two weeks they begged her to work full-time, which she did for 25 years. She would run to the grocery store, or home to start supper, or set the table during her lunch hour. She also watched As the World Turns, as she did the chores, and Art use to tease that they should call it, As the Dinner Burns!
Even after she retired, Loretta worked part-time for a school, in the cafeteria. Art asked why she was still working. She didn’t need the money anymore. It turned out that Loretta was using her earnings to buy pews for her church. That’s an example of her caring, loving, and compassionate spirit that we still see at Autumn Leaves of Northwest Austin.
Submitted by Autumn Leaves of Northwest Austin
