There are many memories I have of my mom. Some good, some bad, but all special. One thing that my mom taught me was how to survive in the toughest conditions. She had lived in various cabin style homes throughout my brother and my childhood years. Some of which had no running water, limited electricity, and the bathroom facilities were outside. I have shared my experiences with these homes with friends and they have often wondered if the outdoor facility was a "honey bucket" bathroom. Oh, now that would have been luxury compared to what we had. We actually had real out houses with wooden doors, floors and seats. At one of the homes up in the mountain in Colville, we even had a bear that liked to use the path to our bathroom as his bathroom. Unpleasant, yes. Ironic, definitely! We had bats fly into our home, badgers run across our path, and a snake or two to scare the wits out of me! Looking back at these memories I can't help but laugh. I wonder how in the world I will be able to give our children these same kind of crazy wonderful experiences. We learned so much from our mom. She will be missed, but always remembered.
