………………….There aren’t enough words to express what my Mom meant to me. I loved her beyond the beyond…..She was my best friend, and the most supportive influence in my life….She was always on my side and there to cheer me on…..There is a certain bond that exists between a mother and her baby….a different kind of bond than the one that exists between her oldest child and the children in between….She often said, “no matter how old you get….you will always be my baby.” My Mom taught me so much…..she taught me what unconditional love was, before I even knew what the words meant. Through her guidance she taught me all of the basics of life…to always be courteous, to say thank you…and you’re welcome….she taught me manners and cleanliness….and sharing [though I wasn’t very good about sharing my things!]. She taught me how to cook by watching her, though I didn’t cook until these past few years…but I remembered….She taught me about fashion before I knew what fashion was….through her example…. Most importantly she taught me about kindness and loving……I remember as a young boy watching TV in the living room laying on the couch with my head on my Mom’s lap, and her stroking my hair until I fell asleep. I have so many sweet memories of my Mom, and those years living on Long Island…….When I made the big move into NYC I was the last to leave the house, and created her empty nest…I know she was sad about it….I was 18….She would bribe me to come home by telling me to bring my laundry, and she would cook lots of things for me to bring back into the city. It was hard to refuse…My older brothers would say “you’re still doing his laundry!”….as if she didn’t do it for them too….We shared so much together that I know she didn’t share with anyone else. She really didn’t have anyone to share many of her stories with….personal stories of her childhood and her years as a single woman. She led quite a life that only her closest girlfriends knew about….She told me ALL of her stories……even about her old boyfriends…one of whom she almost married! If she had I wouldn’t have existed!! I think telling me all of this was cathartic for her…..When she left Brooklyn, with her growing family [we were three boys and I was 3 years old], to Long Island she left all of her girlfriends behind….I know it was very hard and sad for her…These relationships were never to be duplicated again in her lifetime…..They were very special, and the bonds very strong. Of course they did see each other, but growing families and distance kept them apart…..It was never to be the same….it was different and they all knew it…..I know these years as a single woman,that she shared with her dearest friends, were the happiest years of her life…..She was 28 when she married…..She told me she waited to get married because she was having too much fun……I think that is why we were so close…..someone she could talk to and share her thoughts and feelings with…..We would sit, just the two of us and look through her old boxes of photos……..each with its’ own story…..When I left home she put her photos away, and probably never discussed them with anyone again…..My father, though she loved him, was not that person she could share these stories with….I do know she showed these photos to my older brother too, because he shared some of her stories with me…..some I didn’t know and some he didn’t know…..When my parents finally moved to their retirement home….there were two bedrooms….theirs and a guest room….When I paid my first visit the guest room looked like my bedroom from our Long Island home……same bed, and furniture, and even the same bed cover…even my stuffed dog was on the bed. I hadn’t seen it for decades, but my Mom kept it……My Mom just smiled at me and said “it’s your room”….I am the man I am today because of my Mom……When my mother passed at the age of 95 it was the first time I felt what deep and devastating grief was about……I told my brothers the only things I wanted that belonged to my Mom were the pieces of jewelry I had bought her as gifts…I didn’t want anyone else to take them……and her boxes of precious photos. I have them and treasure them to this day…I don’t think I will ever get over her passing. Every day I miss her sweet smile and the way she called my name……………………..HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY MOM!!!! I’m shouting it real loud so you can hear me.
