As promised I pulled another page from my "Mom Journal" to share this week.

I think this excerpt in particular sums up the love she felt for ALL of her children.

And the story goes...

“I did NOT have 10 children because I am catholic. I had 10 children because I wanted each and every one!”


Mary Helen Matson Bichelmeyer was born November 9, 1917 on Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas. She was an only child, a life she often referred to as lonely. Her parents owned a small business where the family spent most days and nights. Her father was a bootlegger and instigator of illicit poker games and her mom was a bartender.

While some may have questioned their lifestyle, no one could question their deep love and devotion to their only child, Mary. They adored her and my Grandpa affectionately called her Babe. And while Babe loved her parents, she dreamed of having a family just like her friend Winnie.

Mom used to talk about how Winnie’s home was loud and always filled with love and laughter. Winnie was one of ten children so her house was always bustling with activity with people coming and going. After spending time around Winnie’s big family, this only child knew exactly what she wanted when she grew up and lo and behold, she went on to have ten children of her own.

Don’t let the fact that Mom was more understated than Dad fool you into thinking she wasn’t every bit as strong as he was. When she felt her children were ridiculed or ostracized, her “mama bear” instincts became fully engaged, even when she was lying on her deathbed in the hospital.

When the third shift nurse came in to check mom’s vital signs she asked about the picture on the bedside table. “Are all those people really members of her family?” She asked incredulously as she pulled the thermometer from Mom’s mouth. “How many children did you have?” When mom told her that she had ten children the nurse laughed. “You must be Catholic.”

At this point Mom was pretty delicate and her voice was quite hoarse from having had a tube down her throat, but the nurse’s comment raised her ire and she mustered the energy to pull herself up.

“I did not have 10 children because I am Catholic,” She pointed directly at the nurse, her low, raspy voice sounding like something from “The Exorcist.” “I had 10 children because I wanted each and every one!”

From the look on the nurse’s face it was clear she got the message. Even though none of us kids ever questioned Mom’s love for us, her words of validation had a profound impact on those of us lucky enough to be in the room that day.

Even as she struggled to be heard, gasping for her last breaths, her message of her deep love for each of her ten children came across loud and clear.