Mary Jo Thorne is a dynamic mother of two who lives in Maplewood. She and her husband Jeff attend St. Ambrose in Woodbury. She runs her antique store, Teresa’s Her Vision, which pays homage to her late mother Teresa, who loved handcrafting and thrifting. It’s her one of the many ways Thorne keeps her mother in mind.
“We talk all the time,” Thorne, 57, said.
Q You left a high-level job in senior housing that was starting to take its toll.
a I worked very hard on my site and my team. It becomes really difficult to be everything to everyone so that the family doesn’t lose out. I stayed in a hotel for 30 nights in six months, but when I asked to change my trip, they refused. I loved my job, but I couldn’t take it anymore.
I don’t make as much money as I used to, but I’ve never been happier and my relationships have never been better. I have lost a total of 110 pounds since quitting. I don’t feel that much stress.
Q You are currently working creatively and working with your daughters to honor the memory of their mother. You launched Theresa’s Vision a month after leaving your job.
a I used to create these vintage vignettes for Christmas because my mom loved Christmas and I loved Christmas. I made about 400 pieces. Jeff said, “Honey, we have to sell!”
God has a way of doing amazing things. My mom would be crazy about this.
Q You buy used treasures at estate sales and sell them at shows like Junk Bonanza in Shakopee later this month. Where do you keep everything?
a Garage — and now there are a lot of (items) in the basement that are being priced out. We are already preparing for next fall and the Christmas season. My daughters and I are going to start a new adventure with these Halloween creations.
I learned so much and made new friends. I feel like I’m a historian somehow. Every time a group comes to my booth, at least one of them says, “Oh, I used to grow these too!” or “My mother had this!” I hope that instead of going to the dump and wasting it, it will be reused, brought back to life, and the memories will continue.
Q Your specialty is keeping memories alive. Please tell me about your mother.
a My mother lived in St. Paul and attended Sacred Heart. Even though she was 5 feet 1 inch tall, you never messed with her. She was a tough broad.
She was diagnosed with cancer during her senior year of high school and was given a 10 percent chance of living another year. She lived to be 7 years old and died at 56 just before my wedding. All her RSVPs were addressed to her mother so her mother could open the letters and see who was coming. She could see me in my wedding dress.
Q She spent her final months working on a special project.
a She wanted to leave me something, so she wrote out all the recipe cards. She liked to draw, so she painted a small flower in the corner of the room. She wrote the source of the recipe there. She had the best handwriting. It was a beautiful, flowing, small cursive. That was amazing.
Q: How do you feel after using that recipe?
a I feel like she’s home and with me.
Q You’re promoting a cause right now.
a I have already written many recipes for my daughters. I write comments on my favorite recipe books. For Christmas cookies, write the year they were made. I’ll fix them and tell you what works better. My grandmother’s spritz recipe calls for Oreos that are half margarine, but her grandmother said, “No, make it half margarine and half Crisco. That way the cookies will taste better.” . You don’t need vanilla, but add a little vanilla to the almonds. The almond flavor will be better.
My mother used to make a white lamb cake every Easter. That white cake has now become something of a symbol for our family. Well, she wrote how to make it, but boil 1.5 of the recipe for a long time and put a toothpick in your ear to make sure it doesn’t fall out.
Q I leave out breadcrumbs, a manual of mistakes to avoid.
a I love taking care of people.
Q: The communion of saints must be very real to you.
a yes. When my daughters were little, they said they knew their grandma. The truth is, I think she came and visited them many times at night. She has been present in our lives.
One night, my daughter Hannah was crying in her crib, so Jeff brought her to me. I left the monitor on in her room, and as she was falling asleep, I heard a voice say: No. Isn’t she there? I really think her mother and her (her grandmother) came to check on Hannah. It’s true.
As Jeff says, she’ll be interested in my new business. My mother loved antiques even before they were popular. She intended to reuse them. Once she had these beautiful old wooden spoons and dried flowers with ribbons on them. It was so cute! She had her father make a very intricate frame around the wallpaper she put on her wall and turned it into her own art. Before purple, she had a purple bedroom. She was sewing. she drew a picture. She made it.
Q: What is your favorite prayer?
a A prayer of silence. Change what you can change, and don’t change what you can’t change. And know the difference.
Q: When do you feel closest to God?
a I feel my faith the most when I’m sitting next to Jeff holding hands in church. He has been with me since I was 16 years old. He is my only love and I belong to him.
Q: What do you know for sure?
a No matter what problem you have today, don’t overreact. Because after an hour, a day, a month, a year, it won’t be a big deal.
I know that with love you can overcome anything.
