My Mom, The Best Person I Knew

My mother, Violet Gloria Alerich, was born on August 17, 1925, in Los Angeles, California. She grew up with 2 older brothers and one younger sister. She met my father, William Porter Thomas II, when they worked together during World War II. They were married on June 1, 1946, and began to raise a family in Arcadia, California.

My oldest sister was born on August 7, 1947. A couple of years after that, my Mom came down with tuberculosis. My Dad was told that my Mom might not survive. He vowed that she would survive, and he prayed earnestly for that outcome. She did survive the tuberculosis, but they were told that she may not be able to have any more children. This time both Mom and Dad said that wasn’t going to happen.

In 1952 my parents had another daughter, followed by a son a year and a half later. Then another daughter, and finally twins, when my Mom was 39 years old. So after the doctor said my Mom might not have any more children, she had 5 more. It’s not up to doctors, it’s up to God. Right about when my twin brother and I were born, my parents were getting ready to move into their new home on top of a hill, in Anaheim, California.

Our family lived in that house for the next 47 years. My parents raised their 4 youngest kids there. While I was growing up, Dad was in the race car business, and Mom was always there for us kids. Dad eventually started working from home around 1970, so he was home a lot from then on also. Dad was a very strict father. Mom was the perfect mother to offset my Dad’s personality. You could always count on comfort from Mom any time you needed it.
By 1992, all the kids were out of the house, and Mom and Dad lived in that big house by themselves, although they had many visitors. They continued to live there until my Dad passed away on October 10, 2009, at the age of 88. My nephew and his wife and son moved in with Mom, so she wouldn’t be alone. They lived with her until Mom had to leave the house, because the hill that the house sat upon, and provided that excellent view, was sliding, and put the house in danger.

On September 4, 2011, my Mom moved in with me. i didn’t want her to go to one of those assisted living homes, because she didn’t want to. I moved upstairs, and let Mom have the master bedroom downstairs, so she didn’t have to go up and down the stairs, with her bad knees. She lived with me and my dog, until just before she passed away, on August 2, 2013. Although I knew that day was coming, it didn’t make her passing any easier. 15 days before her 88th birthday, she was gone. I now have to go on without my favorite person during my whole life. I’m happy that she’s no longer in pain, and that she’s in heaven, but I still miss her.

Rest In Peace, my Mom, Vi Thomas.