As we are fast approaching Mother’s Day, I remember my mom, named Teresa Alice Bedell.
We lived in a corner house in Queens Village on 213th street and 102nd Avenue in the ‘50s and ‘60s. In this home there was my father Fred and two elder blind borders named John and Angelo who my mother took care of and rented them rooms but treated them like family.
We also had a dog named Ginger and a cat named Susie who my mother took care of as well.
My mother had a lot to do especially during the spring and summer where she tended her rose garden and a vegetable garden where she drafted me to help her.
There was always a good crop where she gave out to the neighbors with her surplus. My mother was also active in the community where we were members of Grace Lutheran Church and she belonged to the Ladies Aid Society and that organization help those in need.
She also did volunteer work for the Cancer Society, Jerry’s kids that suffered from muscular diseases, and the Industrial Home for the Blind.
She collected funds for all these organizations and the real kicker is that she would drag me along to impress upon me the need to help others.
My mom wanted me to have a good Christian education and struggle to keep me in Grace Lutheran Day School in Queens Village, where I attended there for eight years and graduated.
My mother loved music and you could hear her favorite records during many times of the day. She would say the reason she loved music because she believed that music was food for the soul.
Now all that has changed because my mother died on September 17, 1963, when I was 14 years old.
Now at 65 years old I still remember my mom who taught me so much and especially the need to help others in need. I serve today as a lector and usher at St. Anastasia Parish and I am also a past Grand Knight of St. Anastasia’s Knights of Columbus, which is a charitable organization.
In closing I remember her love and what she taught me that really was important.
Now that being said let me say,” Thanks mom, and God bless all mothers on this Mothers Day.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village
