Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom Helen's birthday and needless to say, she is on my mind from the moment I woke up. I got up, poured a cup of coffee, lit my candle near her picture, and just sat on the couch thinking of her. She would have been 72 years old.

I miss my mom very much and there are days that it seems like she has been gone a lifetime and then there are days it seems like she has been gone since yesterday. I can't get past the "It was God's will" as of yet, because the daughter in me wants her here with her daughters and grandchildren... each time I go home to CA and watch my niece's Bella and Maggie and I think of Mom and how much she would have loved her precious granddaughters. She would be at her sewing machine making cute summer dresses for them and would love buying them all kinds of books, crayons, coloring books, and fun little girl toys. Oh, and she would be so amazed with Andrew. She loved him dearly and Andrew could do no wrong in her eyes. She just loved being a grandma and Andrew just adored her. He remembers her and does ask me questions about her, but I do wish he could have known her better.

Lisa and I keep her traditions alive. Lisa really keeps the holiday traditions going and has mastered the Tamale making to a "T". She has even mastered the making of Bunuelos and the Mexican style of Posole. Yumba!! Mom would have been so proud of her and I am so grateful that Lisa has kept that important part of Mom's traditions alive. It really makes our holiday's extra special.

My mother was an amazing woman. She was quirky at times (something I got from her) but so much fun! She made our lives safe and both Lisa and I felt such love from her. She was strict and very consistent as a parent and that would drive Lisa and I insane when we were young, but I am grateful to her for that... it kept me on track and I don't crash and fall when life doesn't keep on a straight path. That is the gift that both Lisa and I cherish.

For those that knew my Mom you know how loud she was! From her conversations, her laughter and her slapping doors shut! Lisa and I were laughing this summer because we both noticed how loud we are too! We were driving my poor brother-in-law crazy with our loud conversations and slapping and slamming of cabinet doors, the microwave door, the fire door into the garage and every other object that has a door. Right then and there I knew I didn't want to change who I was because that would be letting go of some of my mother's characteristics. So I will continue to talk loud, slam doors and laugh loud because that is part of my Mother that I have in spirit.

So, today I will continue to celebrate the day of my mother's birth; I will buy a cake and sing Happy Birthday to her. I will have a glass of her favorite wine, Johannesburg Riesling, and make sure I laugh out loud while I share silly stories about her to Gene. So, Happy Birthday my beloved mother... not a day goes by that you are not in my thoughts and prayers!



Mom at a student activity event at her school she worked at: June 20, 1978