Marie Pritchett Worthington

Mom Mom at the Greensboro Restaurant

It’s hard to believe that she has been gone three years and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. She was a treasure and I feel so blessed to have known her even if it was for a rather short portion of a remarkable life.

When we first moved to Lincoln, Jim and I had a chance to introduce ourselves to our new neighbor. We shook hands across the rusty ole page wire fence that divided our property. Mrs. Worthington looked me right in the eye and said, “you’re from ‘round here”. Then she looked at Jim and said, “where are you from?, you’re not from these parts” I knew right then that I loved her and we would get on “like a barn on fire”. Shortly thereafter I asked her if I could call her Mom mom and we were thick as thieves after that.

Jim and Mom Mom

I can’t remember exactly how our bonding began. When we first moved in to our home in 1993, she was still a very mobile widow, zipping around on her riding mower or tooling up the highway (which was only 2 lanes then) in her ’63 (I think it was a '63)  Ford Fairlane, on her way to Hardee’s to the drive thru to get a fried chicken dinner.



Mom Mom at Christmas with her Acme tea bags!!







I think what drew me to her was that she was a walking, talking history lesson. Born before the Titanic sank, she could remember when they made “Mr. DuPont’s road” (what is now 113), she remembered walking to a one room schoolhouse, she remembered taking the train to Atlantic City and so, so much more. Anytime I wanted to know something about the local area, she was my go to girl and I usually ended up learning way more than I bargained for. We spent many an evening at her kitchen table drinking her infamous sweet tea, made with Acme teabags ONLY, and playing Kings in the Corner. She was a more reliable news source than CNN and liked to check in with us often to make sure we were in “the know” with the neighborhood happenings. She also loved National Inquirer and kept me up to date on the going ons of the celebrities. I remember taking her to Wal-Mart one day and on the way there she brought me up to date on what PDiddy was doing these days.

Mom mom loved to eat. Skinny as bean pole, she could store some chow! She anxiously awaited the opening of the Milford Dairy Queen every spring and one of my favorite memories is taking her up there frequently for her treats. I could count on my phone ringing about 7pm on summer evenings and hearing her ask if this was a DQ night. I’d take her up there to get her favorite sundae; vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and with nuts. She always told me that she got the nuts because they would get under her plate and she’d have a little somethin’ for later! After she polished off her treat we would often take a ride down to Slaughter Beach and she would point out to where she and Earle had their house on the beach. The storm of ’63 tore it down and they never did rebuild on their lot. She told me that not much of the house survived the storm, but the phone was still on one of the remaining walls and she was able to dig out of the sand, 7 out of 8 ice tea spoons from a set she kept at the beach. Before she died she gave me that set of 7 and they are one of my prized possessions.

She had been widowed almost as long as I had been alive and she was quite capable of taking care of herself, her home and yard and enjoyed doing for others.   At one time she had worked down to Duponts in Seaford (as she called it) and she even was part owner in a clothing store in Milford.  She kept herself busy with cleaning her house, talking with her family and friends and knitting. Her specialty was Christmas stockings and she knitted these year round to make a little “pin” money for herself. She made one for Jim and me and even on for our Lucy and also for Gidgette. There are many of those stockings that are sprinkled around Delaware and beyond and I hope when they are hung every Christmas that the owners think of Mom Mom and remember what a treasure she was.

Whenever Jim and I left on a trip, Mom Mom was the last to wish us well on our trip and the first to welcome us home. On one trip we came home to see several cars in her driveway when we got home; my heart was in my throat as I rushed over to check on her. She was sitting in her favorite chair in front of the TV, wrapped up in her house coat and covered in afghans, drinking tea and giving orders. I breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sight! She looked a little scuffed up and slightly askew. I asked her what happened and she told me that she had taken a tumble down her cellar steps. She somehow managed to get herself back up the steps to call for help and fortunately did not break anything, not even a fingernail. She later told me that she knew she was not dead when she hit bottom because she remembered looking up and seeing her cellar ceiling and thinking, “I know heaven does not look like my cellar ceiling!”.

Mom Mom with my Godson-Connor

One of the greatest things about Mom Mom was she could crack a joke and take a joke. We went to the Post Office one day for stamps only to find that they had closed already. We had to use the vending machine in the lobby and the change was dispensed as the “new” gold dollars featuring Sacajawea. I think she thought she was getting some funny money at first, but I explained to her that they were the new gold dollar coins. She was okay with that, but wanted to know who Sacajawea was. I explained that she was the guide for Lewis and Clark on their expedition. She hummphed and said that she didn’t remember hearing about her in her history class when she was in school. I just looked at her and said, “That’s because they hadn’t left yet”. She just looked at me over the top of her glasses and told me that I had just lost my trip to DQ for that crack, but she did laugh and off we went to DQ anyway!

I have so many Mom Mom stories that I think I could write a book. It has brought me such joy to reminisce and share my tales with whoever I can get to listen. The best thing about Mom mom was that she always made me feel like I was her girl. On Sunday evenings when I do make supper, I sometimes have to stop myself from going to the phone to call her and tell her that dinner is on the way. She was always happy with whatever we were having and I loved being able to do her a small favor. She meant the world to me and I thank the good Lord for the time we had together and I thank her family for sharing her and letting us be part of her life. I know she looks down from heaven, waiting on the day I join her for a glass of sweet tea, a game of Kings in the Corner and a trip to DQ!

Jim, Mom Mom, Naomi and Leonard Lorsong on an outing to Woodland Beach