Barbara Lee Harris

On Thursday September 8th, the Queen of Swearing and Sarcasm beat the Queen of England to the pearly gates, likely to avoid the crowds of the soon to form royal pain in the ass receiving line.

She was known by her peers as Barb or Barbie. She was Mom to us, Grandma Barb to our children and Aunt Barb to all our cousins. To her youngest grandchild, she was Sweary Grandma.

As a child she was very pissed-off that she was not allowed to play baseball on the boys team, but whenever she could, she helped her daddy with car fixin’, and for the rest of her life did a great deal of handyman maintenance herself.

She graduated from Arlington High School in 1957 and then went to the University of Illinois for one year. She loved theater, writing, and dance.

Back in the day mom would sit crisscross applesauce with a pack of True Green smokes, a bottle of 7Up and a good book. At 82 she could still sit crisscross applesauce.

She was left-handed but always right brained. She created a hand-written book of observed flora and fauna including pressed wildflowers and descriptions of all the local winged and four legged critters. Her collections of seashells, antique jewelry and antique perfume bottles, Indian artifacts and artwork were a great sense of pride. She enjoyed ceramics, watercolor painting, as well as painting on clothing to give as gifts. Embroidery was another relaxing pastime. One of her favorites was an embroidered pillow covered in beautiful wildflowers and just for fun some Cannabis sativa L.

Born in the “silent generation” her independence, unique character and truly great talents often created a struggle with self-worth and confidence.

The family driving trips were always an adventure. Mom was our tour guide to hiking, history and the lay of the land. In the early days, before being PC became a thing, some of us needed to be leashed…there was always one that was a runner. She often called us “little shits”, which on occasion, we were.

She loved cats more than most people and would often adopt the stray kitties that came her way.

Her grandchildren all loved her dearly, although she did bribe them with Fluffernutter sammies and juice, who wouldn’t love that!

In the 80’s she was a band groupie, she loved all genres of music, but Rock n’ Roll was her favorite. The record player was always on in our house from the Kingston Trio to the Rolling Stones.

She could solve all the world’s problems in one two-hour phone call and could solve a crossword puzzle in only a few minutes.

Mom would say, “I know I’m lazy”, but her home was spotless as only her OCD would allow.

She has a dragonfly tattoo on her right shoulder, which she got when she was 70…because, why not?

She disliked driving and other drivers, and would say things like, “I wish I could just hit those people with my car.” Or, “Get out of the way fat ass!”, forgetting the windows were open…or did she forget?

Mom hated liars and was not afraid to say so. She knew you took the money from her purse or the candy from the candy jar. But she would defend you like a junk yard dog or Queen Boudicca if you were wrongly accused. You didn’t mess with the people she loved.

Her refrigerator door was filled with photos of family, friends, and funny cartoons, along with pictures of a former president, upon which she drew tiny little Hitler moustaches.

She was brutally honest and stuck like glitter to her convictions. Creative, sarcastic, funny, and seriously...she swore...A LOT.

She was a daughter, sister, friend, wife, sister-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother. And sometimes she was a royal pain in the ass. (Queens are allowed this grace).

We are not just a date and a name.We are complex human beings doing what we can to live our best lives.Alzheimer’s took all of these memories from her, but through us, she will live on.

https://www.alz.org/illinoishttps://secure.aspca.org