A Product of Her
My mother is Jennifer Edwards Hart. Her story is very different from that of my father's. She grew up in Hillhaven, Maryland on a horse farm. And could ride a horse better than she could walk, according to my grandfather. She had a pretty normal childhood, according to her, until she was in the 5th grade. She had just turned twelve years old when she went to school one day and when she came home, my grandfather had to tell her that her mother had died. He never told her how she had died, but she remembers that it was a closed casket and that he would not allow her to see her mother's body. Can you imagine that? Going to school and having fun with your friends and when you get home, you expect to see your mom or your dad, just like always, and there not there. When you ask one or the other, you are told that you will never see them again, and you're not told why? I still don't think she knows to this day what happened to her, and I'm not sure she wants to know. But that's her story to tell, not mine.
She told me that after her mother died, she was angry like daddy was, but instead of being angry at God, she was angry at my grandfather. His name was Stephen Addison Edwards. But I called him Papa. I loved my papa and couldn't imagine being THAT mad at him. But she was. She went to school at a girl's school in Gresham, Massachusetts, where she became best friends with my Aunt Pat. She's a trip, I love her. Anyhow my mom stayed mad at papa for the longest time, until Aunt Pat gave her a talking too one weekend and she slowly began to forgive him. They used to talk on the phone at least once a week; that was until last summer, you see my papa died.
He had been sick for a while and we all went to Hillhaven to visit him. We had all gone to bed one night and when my mom went to check on him the next morning he was gone. We held a small private ceremony for him and scattered his ashes over different areas of the farm, but mostly near his and my mom's favorite place, the pond. There's a big tree there where they used to go and sit and do some thinking and we all said our final goodbyes to him there. I will always remember my papa and his estate.
Last year I got to go to papa's house for a whole week by myself. I LOVED going there, there were plenty of places to roam about and play, horses to ride and feed, and cats of all shapes, sizes and colors that live in the barns. My favorite thing to do, besides riding, was to take an inventory of the cats and kittens in the barn and report to papa each day's findings. Besides the cats and kittens there were horses. Racing horses, polo ponies, quarter horses and mustangs. The first thing I did when I got there was to go to the barn and find out which ones were going to have or have had babies. My job that summer was to come up with names for them. Some of them don't have to have special names, but some do. You have to combine the mare's name and the sire's name to get the fillies or colts name. For some associations you have to choose 3 names because someone might have already named their horse that. It was a daunting job, but I liked it. My mom owns the place now and has told me that one day it would be passed down to me. She also told me not to worry and that all the cats, kittens and horses are still there and would be when we decided to go back. But we haven't been back there since his funeral and I miss going there.
So more on my mother. After she graduated from high school she went to college and but had a hard time trying to figure out what she wanted to study. She couldn't decide between Archeology with a minor in Anthropology, or Journalism with a minor in English, and finally chose Journalism. She became a writer and a very good one at that. She has a love of Egypt and artifacts, animals and art and has read more books than anyone I know of. She also is a very good photographer. Her photographs are all around the house that she has taken of all of us, and some of the animals she has seen while on safari with daddy. She tells me that someday when we are a little older we are all going on safari in Africa with her and daddy, and I can't wait! I love animals just like she does and want so much to see a lion in the wild or maybe a giraffe or an elephant. I can't decide which. I just hope that getting older come soon!
I should tell you that I have had my passport since I was a week old and love to travel just like my mom and dad. I have been to London, Paris and Greece. I asked my mom if I was a good traveler when I was little and she said yes. She said that I would be fussy until the sound of the jet engines would start up and then I would get this contented look on my face and fall asleep, and most of the time stay asleep, until we reached our destination. She said that once the engines would shut down, I would start being fussy again. She said that she thinks it's because when she was pregnant with me she and dad still did a lot of traveling until about 2 months before I was born then Dr. Kate told her no more traveling.
My mom still writes columns for magazines on different subjects, but most of her time now is spent sitting on the board for various charities and foundations. She is on the board of the LA Zoo, The William Holden Wildlife Foundation and Hart Industries, of course, just to name a few. She and daddy have to get dressed up a lot and go out to business meetings and parties. I love watching her get dressed, and sometimes I get to pick her dress. She has great taste in clothes. I get fascinated watching her do her hair and makeup, and I hope one day I can do just a good of a job as she does. She told me that she loves getting dressed up, but sometimes she wishes she could just put on her pajamas and stay home with me. Even on the nights that she does that with me she still looks pretty.
I guess my mom is pretty amazing if you ask me. Not only does she know a lot about everything, she even speaks several languages. English, of course, French, which she is teaching me, Polish, Italian, Spanish and a little bit of Chinese. She has been all around the world, and tells me different stories about the places she has been and the things that she has seen and I love it. My favorite thing to do with my mom is to snuggle up on the couch together. Sometimes she tells me stories, and sometimes we play on her tablet, but most of the time we just talk. My mom is easy to talk to and gives me good advice on most subjects…..except cooking. I love my mother to death, but the best thing she makes is reservations. She can throw a sandwich together and does ok making eggs in the morning, but other than that, let's just say I'm glad that Maria does the cooking for us.
She and I have the same pale skin that is prone to turning frecklier in the sun, and the same deep auburn color of hair. She also has dancer's legs and a great singing voice. Like daddy says, 'she's the total package" that is except for the cooking thing.
Remember me telling you the effect that dad has on women? Well guess what my mother has that same effect on men. She smiles at them and they do whatever she wants. One time we went into a store to buy something for Maria for her birthday, and the guy at the counter was looking down when we approached to pay for our items. He looked up and couldn't form a sentence to save his life. He finally told mom the total and we walked out of the store. I looked back and sure enough he was watching mom the whole way. I just shook my head. It's so embarrassing sometimes. But you know something, I secretly hope that I have that effect on men someday.
So I am also the product of Jennifer Edwards Hart. Not only do I get my skin tone and hair from her, but I have also get my love of animals, travel, adventure, reading and writing from her. My dad has told me that I look just like her and if I turn out to be half of the person that she is that would be ok in my book.