<p>My mother is an amazing woman.  She:</p>
<p>- was the youngest of 11 children.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_426" align="alignright" width="209" caption="Charles and Ruth, before he left for WWII"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CharlesRuth1940s.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-426 " title="Charles&amp;Ruth1940s" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CharlesRuth1940s.jpg" alt="" width="209" height="334" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>- lost her father at age 9.</p>
<p>- married at age 15 1/2 (We have a family story about the 1/2.)</p>
<p>- sent her husband off to World War II at the age of 20.</p>
<p>- gave birth to seven children.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_432" align="alignright" width="112" caption="Ruth and Charles in 1950s -finished high school after having her first 2 children."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/YallComeCover_2.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-432 " title="YallComeCover_2" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/YallComeCover_2.jpg" alt="" width="112" height="87" /></a>[/caption]</p>
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<p>- was a pastor’s wife for many years.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_427" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andrew, Charles and Ruth in 1980"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/AndrewDaddyMama.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-427" title="AndrewDaddyMama" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/AndrewDaddyMama-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>- began taking college classes in 1963, when I was in junior high.</p>
<p>- finished college 22 years later in 1985.</p>
<p>- lost her husband, my father, at age 62.</p>
<p>- was asked by his last congregation, a small retirement pastorate, if she would finish out that year as their pastor.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_428" align="alignleft" width="178" caption="Ruth and Charles in the 1970s"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CharlesRuth70.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-428 " title="Charles&amp;Ruth70" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CharlesRuth70-223x300.jpg" alt="" width="178" height="240" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>- pursued a seminary degree, finishing in 3 years, while continuing to serve as pastor of that church.</p>
<p>- served as a pastor, full-time for 3 years, before mandatory retirement.</p>
<p>- then served as a pastor, part-time, for another 10 years.</p>
<p>- in 2005, at age 82, began recounting her memories in a <a title="Ruthlace_blog" href="http://www.ruthlace.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">weblog, Ruthlace.</a></p>
<p>- by 2011, at age 88, has written over 300 blog entries, which are read by hundreds of people around the world.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_429" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Beth, Debi, Mother, Carol, Joan and Terrell, at a Rome Area Writers booksigning for Recipes, Rhymes and Reflections"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RAWMother.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-429" title="RAWMother" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RAWMother-300x220.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="220" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_430" align="aligncenter" width="215" caption="Recipes, Rhymes and Reflections from Georgia&#39;s Rome, published in 2008, can be ordered through Mother&#39;s blog."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RRRcover.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-430" title="RRRcover" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RRRcover-215x300.jpg" alt="" width="215" height="300" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>She has recently finished <a title="Chronicles_of_Ruth" href="http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-chronicles-of-ruth/18173382?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1" target="_blank"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Chronicles of Ruth, Blogging Through My 80s</span></em>,</a> a compilation of some of her blog posts.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_431" align="aligncenter" width="215" caption="This book, just published in 2011, is available through lulu.com or from her website, Ruthlace."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChroniclesRuth.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-431" title="ChroniclesRuth" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChroniclesRuth-215x300.jpg" alt="" width="215" height="300" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>The photo on the cover was taken of Mother, and her daughters, my sisters, Janice and Joan, to send to her husband Charles, a marine, during World War II.</p>
<p>M<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/LifeWing.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-433 alignleft" title="LifeWing" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/LifeWing.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="160" /></a>other has also published <a title="Life_with_Wings" href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Wings-Ruth-Baird-Shaw/dp/0557467594/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319915281&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Life With Wings</span>, </a>available on Amazon.com, another book of poetry, sermons, and recipes.</p>
<p>And she is working to complete another book,<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em> 52 Sundays</em></span>, a collection of some of her best sermons, from her years as a preacher/pastor.</p>
