Three Different Worlds

My Three Moms

Last year I purchased a shadow box at Tuesday Mornings for practically nothing. Now, what to do with it. It had little canals along the bottom where the glass must have at one time or another gone. I decided to paint it and make a memorial for my 3 mom's.

In the shadow box on the left is my natural mom who truly thought more of me than herself when she gave me up for adoption and I was placed privately at 3 months old. My natural mom's name was Irene.

In the middle was Barbara. She had many problems of her own, the least of which she was an alcoholic. She volunteered at the hospital where I was born and slipped a note to Irene that had her phone number. At 2 years of age, my adoptive father, Harry Keller at the age of 50 got full custody of me after Barbara tried to stab him one day after he came home from work.

For the next few years I was raised by my dad's German grandmother, Rosa. She died when I was 5. Then there were housekeepers. After Miss Murray tried to commit suicide, I was shipped off to my Aunt Em's in Chicago to complete my 3rd grade.

Irene, Barbara and Nadine

In the middle of my 4th grade at Holy Family in Glendale, my father announced he was marrying a woman named Nadine. He reminded me that I had met her on New Year's Day when we had all gone to the Rose Parade together.


Nadine was the best thing that every happened to me. In my mind, she is or was, "my Mommy". I have mentioned her before in my posts. She took this unruly, tomboy, hyper-active little girl and transformed her into who I am today. She is the one on the right. She loved Irises and purple. Those are her pearls on the left and the rhinestone pin on the right are hers also. The irises are from a little flower pot Staci (Ernie's daughter) gave me once upon a time since I too love irises and purple. The glove on the top is a very sheer soft pink glove that was Nadine's. Holding the glove to the top of the shadow box is a big tapestry hat pin.


This now sits in the window where I look out to the ocean and try to remember the three different worlds I lived in before I became an adult.