BY PENNY LEUTHARD STAFF WRITER
Mother’s Day is here again, a day where children of all ages express their love and appreciation to the woman who raised them. Mothers teach and instill values in their children, and area residents have many reasons to thank their own moms.
Clearwater resident Adrienne Edmonson learned about the importance of family and building relationships from her mom, who stayed at home to care for her four children.
“I always remember her being available,” said Edmonson. “It was security knowing that someone was always there for you.”
She feels lucky to have grown up knowing her grandparents well, in fact, she lived right next door to them. She learned family was something to be valued.
“I had the influence not just of my mom, but my grandma,” said Edmonson. “That model is something we [she and husband, Pete] want for our kids, too. Not just seeing their grandparents once and a while, but having a relationship with them. It just builds such a sense of family.”
As a mom of five, she also wanted to work, so her mom started taking care of her children during the day. Her grandmother still lives next door, so her kids are also able to spend time with their great-grandma.
“If it can’t be me watching them, no one else can love them as much,” said Edmonson. “It’s a real blessing.”
During the Korean War, Lynden Twp. resident Dan Torgersen’s mom worked at the Army Ammunition Plant in New Brighton from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., so she was always there for him.
“She was the equivalent of a stay-at-home mom,” he said. “She was there to tuck me in at night and wake me up in the morning.”
She was also an excellent seamstress who made draperies for commercial and residential customers, and a good cook.
“We were a Scandinavian home,” said Torgersen. “Sunday meals were a big deal. There would often be a beef roast, pork roast, potatoes and everything to go with them.”
One of the most important things Torgersen learned from his mom was work ethic.
“You get work done before you play,” he said. “But she always found time to play. She also taught me that you can survive on a lot less sleep than you think you need, which she probably learned from her nights working at the ammunition plant.”
Dan’s wife, Mary Torgersen, also learned a lot from her mom, who spent a lot of time volunteering at church and was a great cook and seamstress who made all of her children’s wedding dresses.
“She was a stay-at-home mom who instilled in all of us the love of nature,” said Torgersen. “She knew all the birds and wildflowers, and knew where the ‘king’ and ‘queen’ of the forest were (the oldest trees) and would often go out and bow and curtsey to them.”
Her mom was a bird bander for the Science Museum of Minnesota, and was known as the ‘bird lady’ because she kept birds that had hit the windows and died in the family freezer until she could bring them to the Science Museum.
“My mom taught me about service to others,” said Lynden Twp. resident Allen Horn. “And about inner strength.”
She had polycystic kidney disease and had a lot of problems with her health, however, Horn never once heard her complain about it.
“Even though she wasn’t feeling well she’d still work at church dinners and sing in the church choir,” he said. “She was very active in a lot of church organizations. Especially when I got older, I was just amazed at how she could do it all. She had a lot to do with me becoming a physician.”
Siblings Carolyn and Chris Kluge summed up mothers best.
“She’s always very caring and loving,” said Carolyn Kluge. “She’s always there and she’s very important in our lives.”
