Sonya Jean (Brown) Laney was born June 19th, 1939
to Anna Jean (Bay)Brown and Tom Chester Brown.
Proud sister, Cherie(Brown)Denney.
They lived in Hillsdale Michigan.
This is how I imagine the birth announcement looked when my mom was born.
She is such an amazing women! I love to listen to her tell stories of when she was a little girl growing up in a tiny house. She and her sister shared a room. It was actually a sun room that was turned into a bedroom. The way their room was situated my mom could look into their mirror and watch her sister get good night smooches from her boyfriend. She once read her sisters diary at the Thanksgiving table. Like all sisters do they fought over clothes, boys and attention. My Aunt recently came for a visit and it was fun listening to them walk down memory lane.
She also tells stories of how they lived life when she was young. They didn't have a television until she was older. She remembers listening to shows on the radio. They didn't have much but they were happy. All the things we think are essential just didn't exist. It's hard for my kids to imagine life without TV, computers, microwaves, and cell phones.
She was very imaginative when she was little. She would talk to trees when friends couldn't play. She loved her dolls as well.
In high school she was a cheerleader. It's fun to look at her yearbooks. All the girls wore dresses or skirts all the time. It was their dress code. Jeans were not allowed. She remembers wearing jeans one time when they decorated the gym for prom.
They lived on a lake and she remembers swimming across the lake for her lifesaving course. She tells stories of spending time with friends in the summer on the lake or walking through town. It honestly is stories from the 50's. She remembers Poodle Skirts and Saddle Shoes. Sock Hop and Sadie Hawkins dances. I have often thought what life would have been like in this "slower pace time". Small town livin!
She met my dad in High School. They graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1957. My dad joined the Army shortly after High School and she headed off to Michigan Sate to study art. They married on December 13th. 1958. They celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2008.
My mama is most selfless person I have ever met. She always puts others needs and wants before hers. She has inspired me to be the kind of mom she was to me. Her example is something I rely on everyday. She is the kind of grandma I always imagined for my kids. She is kind and loving and I have cried on her shoulder way more times than I can count. She is a great listener. She has never made decisions for me but guided me. I have made quit a few mistakes and she reminds me that these "learning experiences" will make me a better person. She is my "best girlfriend"!
It is my hope that I can be half the person she is because that is a lot.
I can remember as a little girl she was talking with me about loving God. She told me that I should really love God more than my family. That was hard for me to grasp. I couldn't imagine loving ANYONE more than her. So, in my child like mind I told her if the world was made out of dots that I loved her one dot less than God.
Mama thank you for all that you are! You mean so much to me. More than I could ever write here.
I will always love you "one dot less".
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