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Light a Candle
My mother, Vicki Carol Petrone, was a loving wife, mother and nana. She was lucky enough to be there at the birth of her 5 grandchildren and to help care for most of them at one point or another. That was something that always seemed to give her an abundance of joy. Her second family was Bell South and AT&T. She worked there for 25 years; making friends, helping her colleagues, and taking on some of the most challenging accounts and customers. Her co-workers always had plenty of funny and loving stories of praise for my mom and her never ending patience. Mama also had a long standing love affair with the television. Starting with 'The Fugitive', more specifically, lead actor David Janssen. She actually created a scrapbook dedicated to him, full of pictures and magazine clippings. Her love of 'The Fugitive' came second only to 'Days of our Lives'. She watched "Days", as she called it, since 1965 when it began. She made not have had a scrapbook for 'Days of our Lives', but the 100's of VHS recordings we had were evidence of her love for the show. Her other loves were her hobbies. That consisted of quilting, crafting and decorating. We all know how much she loved to quilt, and how proud she was of the quilts she made. I will never forget her watching Elanor Burns on public television and throwing fabric all over the room as we laughed. My mom was also ready to lend a hand when a friend or family member needed help decorating. She was a master of wallpaper and spent hours in Home Depot trying to find just the right pattern. Whether she was helping my sister remodel and redecorate her first house, helping Betsy redecorate a kitchen, helping my grandmother with a bathroom, or the many other projects she did in our own home; it seemed like my mom was always redecorating something with unique and beautiful results. She also loved to craft. I guess I could say that's where my sister and I get our crafting love and ability from. She taught us how to finger knit, make pot holders, how to build things and how to paint. Anything hands on, she taught us how to do. She taught my sister and I how to be resourceful and how never to be afraid of a project. Reupholstering, lighting, tiling, or refinishing furniture, she could conquer anything. Our mother was a loving, thoughtful person. She always tried to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". This was on our wall as we grew up, but it was also something she lived day to day. She never acted as if anyone was beneath her and she was always accepting of every person she came to know. She taught Tracey and I acceptance before it was "fashionable" in the South. She will go on in our lives and memories as a brave inspiration of how we should treat one another. I hope you will all remember her like this, with love and honor.
