Last week, we noted Mother’s Day and so many people poured out tributes to mothers everywhere on social media. Facebook and Instagram were flooded with photos of moms still with us and those that have passed away.
It was so great to see how much love there was for mothers and grandmothers and even stepmothers.
Each year for Mother’s Day, I pay tribute to my own mom, but for some reason this year I had a hard time getting there.
It’s been seven years since my mom passed away, and when I think of adding two years of her in a nursing home, one year in assisted living, it’s 10 years since she resided in an apartment.
Maybe the last two years of living alone, we noticed her mind was playing tricks on her.
I admired those whose mothers are alive and sympathized with those who, like myself, lost their mom.
We all are guilty of taking for granted that our mother would be around forever and when the time comes when we lose them, it’s so heart-breaking and a shock.
When our mothers are alive and well, we generally don’t pick up the phone to call to ask how their day is going. We get so wrapped up in our own lives, we tend to get a bit lazy and not make a call or stop by to visit mom.
I can just say, I would give anything to just have one more conversation with my mom; even if she wanted to yell at me one last time would be okay to me.
I’ve written so much about my mom over the 23 years of this column, and I’m pretty sure if you didn’t know my mom, at least you got a flavor of what she was like when I was growing up through my writings.
I believe growing up we don’t realize how much of an influence our parents have on us. It’s only later on life when the light bulb goes and you start repeating their words or actions.
Sometimes I’ll recite the same songs either parent would hum or sing or a phrase they used regularly. In essences, we become our parents eventually.
My daughter Ashley is a cook and baker like my mother was and in fact, she will try to replicate her recipes.
For her, she gets frustrated at times because no matter what my mom had written down for ingredients, it never came out like her grandmother’s final product.
I’ve had a hankering for my mom’s pineapple squares so my daughter couldn’t find my mother’s recipe, so she used someone else’s recipe.
I have to admit, for the first time out of the box, she did a great job. Sure, she has some tweaking to do, but she’s honestly very close.
Even though I told Ashley she’s really close, she was not happy with the result. I think Gram would be very proud in her attempt and no doubt she’s smiling.
I’m glad she and my older daughter Tiffany are always trying to make my mom’s recipes. It makes them feel good about remembering my mother, and it makes me happy feeling like mom is never that far away.
I know those of us that lost our mom’s all feel the same when it comes to Mother’s Day. We are all lost and longing for mom and wish we could see them one more time.
It’s tough but we have to move forward, just as our moms would want us to do, even though we don’t like it at all.
Father’s Day is no better and that will be here before you know it, and the feelings of sadness surface to the top once again. I don’t want to sound like a Donald Downer, but again, if you’ve lost a parent or both, these two holidays are not easy.
This past week would have been my father’s 94th birthday. He passed away just before his 67th birthday and was ill for 14 years prior with Alzheimer’s disease. I will always wonder what life would have been if he was given a chance to live to an old age.
As I check the calendar, high school graduations are just around the corner, and it will be time to say goodbye to another crop of great young adults.
I’m always tempted to call children kids, but as my former high school English teacher, Tony Capitano, would say, “A kid is a young goat.”
Pittston Area is slated to graduate first between the two schools on Friday, June 2, and Wyoming Area on Friday, June 9, one week later.
I covered King’s College graduation this past Friday and the class had nearly 650 graduating. I hope someone from that class will cure cancer, run for president or walk on the moon.
We have to put our faith in the upcoming generations. They will eventually run businesses, lead armies and nations, and perform lifesaving surgeries.
It will be interesting to see leaders of the world being born in the 1960s and 1970s and how the would run the world.
Thought of the Week
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. Its all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” – Jamie Anderson
Quote of the Week
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
Bumper Sticker
“Tears are words the heart can’t express.” – Unknown
