Mary Jo Thorne is a dynamic Maplewood mother of two. She and her husband, Jeff, belong to St. Ambrose in Woodbury. She runs Theresa’s Vision, an antique store that pays tribute to her late mom, Theresa, who loved crafting and thrifting. It’s one of many ways Thorne keeps her mom close at heart.

“We talk all the time,” said Thorne, 57.

Q You left a high-up job in senior housing that had begun to take a toll.

A I was so committed to my sites and my team. It becomes really hard to become everything for everyone and not have your family lose out. I had spent 30 nights in hotels in half a year, and when I asked for some modifications to the travel, they didn’t grant it. I loved my job, but I couldn’t take it anymore.

I’m not making the money I used to, but I have never been happier and my relationships have never been better. I’ve lost a total of 110 pounds since leaving. It’s not having that intense stress.

Q Now you’re doing creative work — and you’re working with your daughters to honor your mom’s memory. You launched Theresa’s Vision one month after resigning.

A I was creating these vintage vignettes for Christmas, because my mom loved Christmas and I love Christmas. I’d made about 400. Jeff said, “Honey, you need to sell them!”

God has a way of doing wonderful things. My mom would have a ball with this.

Q You buy secondhand treasures from estate sales and then you sell them at shows like Junk Bonanza, which is in Shakopee later this month. Where do you store it all?

A The garage — and now I have a bunch (of items) in the basement that I’m pricing. I’m already getting ready for the next fall and Christmas season. My daughters and I are going to start a new adventure with these Halloween pieces.

I’ve learned so much and made new friends. I kind of feel like a historian. Every time a group comes to my booth, at least one person says, “Oh, I had one of these growing up!” or “My mom had one of these!” Instead of going to the dump and being wasteful, it’s being repurposed, coming back alive — and hopefully the memories will continue.

Q Keeping memories alive is your specialty. Tell me about your mom.

A My mom lived in St. Paul and went to Sacred Heart. She was 5 feet 1 inch tall, but you never messed with her. She was a tough broad.

She was diagnosed with cancer my senior year of high school and given a 10 percent chance of living another year. She made it seven, dying at 56 — shortly before my wedding. We had all the RSVPs go to my mom, so she could open up the letters and see who was coming. She did get to see me in my wedding dress.

Q She took up a special project in her final months.

A She wanted to leave something for me, so she wrote out all her recipe cards. She loved to paint, so she painted little flowers on the corner. She’d write on there where the recipes were from. She had the best handwriting — this beautiful, tiny cursive that just flowed. It was something to marvel at.

Q What does it feel like when you use those recipes?

A It feels like she’s coming home, that she’s with me.

Q Now you’re advancing the cause.

A I’ve already written out a bunch of recipes for my daughters. I write comments in my recipe books that I love. If it’s a Christmas cookie, I write the years I’ve made them. I modify them and tell them what works better. My grandma’s spritz recipe calls for oleo, which is half margarine, and she said, “No, do half margarine, half Crisco — that’ll make the cookies taste better.” And even though it doesn’t call for vanilla, put a dash of vanilla in the almond; it makes the almond taste better.

My mom used to make a white cake lamb every Easter. That white cake now has become kind of a symbol for our family. Well, I’ve written how to make it: one-and-a-half the recipe and cook it longer and put toothpicks in their ears so they don’t fall off.

Q You’re leaving 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 girls were little, they would say that they knew Grandma. I think, truthfully, that she came many nights and visited them. She’s been present in our lives.

One night, my daughter Hanna was crying in her crib and then Jeff brought her to me. I left the monitor on in her room, and as I was falling asleep, I heard: “Is she in there? No, she’s not in there?” I really think it was my mom and (grandmother) coming to check on Hannah. I really do.

As Jeff says, she would have a ball with my new business. My mom loved antiques before antiques were a big thing. She would repurpose them. Once she had these beautiful old wooden spoons, and she dried flowers on them with a ribbon. It was so cute! She had my dad make these really intricate frames around pieces of wallpaper she put on the wall to make it her own art. She had a purple bedroom before purples (were) in. She sewed. She painted. She created.

Q What’s your favorite prayer?

A The Serenity Prayer. Change the things you can, and if you can’t, don’t. And know the difference.

Q When do you feel closest to God?

A I feel my faith the most when I’m next to Jeff holding hands in church. He has been with me since I was 16. He has been my one and only love, and I’m his.

Q What do you know for sure?

A Whatever problem you have today, don’t overreact because in an hour or a day or a month or a year, it’s not going to be a big deal.

I know love will get you through anything.