One of my fondest memories of my mother is when she taught me how to blow a bubble with gum.  We had driven thousands of miles in our 1957 Dodge from Indiana to Alaska.  We were parked outside the main gate at Ft. Richardson.  Dad went inside with the MP to get a pass to get on post.  Mom, Debby, Jr., and I were sitting in the car waiting.  Mom had made the back seat into a bed by filling the foot wells with stuff and covering it all with blankets. 

"Put the gum in front of your tongue and smooth it flat," she instructed.  "Then blow into the flat part of the gum until it starts to get bigger."

She patiently demonstrated the process over and over while we tried to imitate her.  Some of the bubbles would stick to our fingers.  Other bubbles would burst all over our cheeks.  The time flew by while she kept us occupied with the gum.

This was a big deal moving from Texas to Alaska, with a stopover in Indiana to visit my grandparents.  My Mom had packed up and moved again for the umpteenth time as a military wife.  For a few years, we had our own house in Arkansas, but mostly we lived in rented or Army housing.  The five of us would live in Army quarters in Alaska, too, after 13 months living off base in a second-floor two-bedroom apartment named Martin Arms. 

Mom had left all her friends and family behind... again.  She would have to start over here in a place where we knew nobody.  The army provided us with a sponsor.  We went to their house first for a visit, and then on to the temporary quarters provided until we moved into the Martin Arms apartment.

Eventually my Mom got involved with ceramics and made friends studying the Bible.  But for those weeks we waited for our household goods to arrive, we managed with our camping gear and a deck of cards.  We had no television until the movers arrived.  I remember my brother liked to play marbles, and I liked reading books. 

Wherever we lived, Mom made it a home.  We had a hot dinner every night when Dad would come home from work.  Eventually we had toys and tv again, but I've never forgotten the day that I learned to blow a bubble with gum.

Thanks, Lisa, for the graphics!