Addicted To Aprons

Patty had several aprons. Every waking hour the woman would sport an apron. Patty was a housewife and any time you walked into her house, you would find her in her kitchen. A beautiful kitchen indeed, and it had the aroma of good food always. You could drop in to Patty’s house any time and still expect to be fed. She took delight in feeding anyone who came home. Patty was a great host, someone you could idolize when it comes to hospitality.

Patty had several aprons. In fact she had one for every occasion: funny aprons, vintage aprons, hostess aprons, and holiday aprons. Indeed she was a bit old fashioned; she had a couple of fancy aprons that she only sported on Sundays.

But Patty’s aprons were more than just aprons. She used them to wipe the sweat of off her brow, the blood off her kids’ skinned knees, and even to wipe their runny noses. Often she filled the pockets with supplies for cleaning, shooed away flies with it, and sometimes wiped away her own tears when missing her husband, who was called out of the country because he was in the army.

When her friends would ask her why she was never seen without an apron, Patty would tell them, “When I put my apron on, I mean business. My kids and my husband know that I’m busy doing something I love, and which they know they will enjoy in just a few minutes. My family gives me big warm smiles the minute I have my apron on.”

It has been five years now since Patty passed away, and though her children are all grown, they never forgot their mom and her aprons. When Patty died and her husband was going through her things, he recovered over 100 aprons. He couldn’t help but remember all their fond memories together when he saw those aprons. Every apron of Patty’s had a fond story to tell.

When Patty’s husband asked his daughters what they would like from their mom’s stuff, all of them said in unison “aprons.” The girls decided they would each take half of Patty’s apron collection. Laura wears hers whenever she cooks, and Michelle took hers and made them into a quilt which is on display in her home. Both of the girls remember their mom with fondness every time they see those old aprons.