For Rosemary Peterson Meyer, every day is Mother’s Day. Here’s why.
“As long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a mother,” she comments.
Indeed, Sun City’s “Bread Lady” and “Neighborhood 18’s Christmas Party Hostess Extraordinaire” personifies the qualities of exceptional motherhood: an unselfish, hard-working, loving individual who, if necessary, must become a survivor.
Rosemary Peterson Meyer. (Photo provided)
She was 23 and Chuck Peterson 25 when they married. Within 22 months, the young couple had two babies. In recounting their early years of marriage, Rosemary remembers trips to the local swimming pool.
“Sundays were Family Day,” she says, “My husband, Chuck, and I often traveled to three parks in a day in search of trees for the kids to climb.”
Tragically, with a family having grown to six children, Rosemary’s 39-year-old husband died after a six-week bout of stomach cancer. The Petersons had been married 14 years. The 37-year-old widow was left alone to raise 13-year-old Chuck Jr., 12-year old Ralph, 9-year-old Mary Ann, 7-year-old Dawn Marie, 4-year-old Valerie Rose, and 1-year-old Baby Rosemary. The young mother, always a devout Catholic, prayed to God for help.
“They are your kids, I’m only the babysitter,” she would say countlessly in the years to come. As the family grew, Rosemary developed a system of tight shifts with chores handed out and rules enforced. She remembers, “I enjoyed motherhood, but with the numbers involved, I had to be a strict mother. I wouldn’t let them watch certain TV shows. They couldn’t watch any TV during Lent, at least not at our home.”
As the years passed, everyday became Mother’s Day for Rosemary. She does remember, however, admonishing her kids “I get a gift every Mother’s Day.” They never disappointed her and have fulfilled her request every year since even as small children.
“Even Chuck brought me once flowers he had taken out of the ground with dirt still hanging from their stems,” Rosemary adds.
Then with 10 years of single life behind her, Rosemary married her second husband, Russ Meyer. The widower brought his five children to join the Peterson clan. At the time of their marriage, Rosemary’s five-bedroom house was able to accommodate three of the Meyer children and three of the Peterson kids still at home. As the combined group grew in age, holidays often brought a sitting of 40 to 60 family members to the table, especially for Christmas.
“From the beginning, my second husband, Russ, demanded respect from his kids towards me. And as a result, my kids got, likewise, a father out of Russ.”
Russ died in 2000 of lung cancer, which ended the Meyer’s 12-year marriage. Eleven years ago, Rosemary Meyer moved to Sun City. Through the years, Ms. Meyer (now 75) has remained close to all 11 of her children. She will not accept the word “stepchildren.” Added to the count these days are nine Peterson grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, joined by 12 Meyer grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Rosemary Peterson Meyer summarizes her expectations for the upcoming holiday and being a mother to this “Brady Bunch” group: “They’re (the girls) almost all mothers now themselves. Mother’s Day is an informal day to meet with whoever calls me.”
She isn’t sure yet of her final plans for Mother’s Day 2016, though Ralph and his wife have already declared to do something special with their “very extraordinary mom.” Rosemary adds, “I’m always there for the kids but only when they need me.”
A Footnote: Rosemary has become “everyone’s mother” as she administers to those “with physical and spiritual needs” by participating in giving communion to the faithful in her local church, a neighboring hospital, and in individuals’ homes. Her inspirational motto is “dream, hope, faith.”
