Mom

Seems I got everything turned around this year.  During the Christmas holidays, even though rejoicing and appreciating family, my mind kept wandering forward to the New Year and new decade.  Now that the New Year is here, I keep thinking about Christmas and the fact that this was our first Christmas without mom.

Mom passed away last March, at the age of 90, due to complications from being bedridden as a result of a benign tumor in her spine. Had the tumor been properly diagnosed and removed in a timely fashion, I’m sure she would still be with us but that’s another story….  Why the optimism?  She has two brothers and a sister still living at ages of 92, 94 and 96 and one of them still drives!

I was fortunate to be able to give a brief eulogy at her funeral although difficult as it was.  Here’s a brief excerpt:

“To my knowledge, my mother never smoked, drank or cursed.  I’m sure she must have, but again to my knowledge, she seldom if ever violated the rules of the Ten Commandments.

More importantly, she was a kind person in the process.  Although those who knew her could usually tell where she stood on an issue by her body language, other than raising her voice during the routine of raising four children (I, myself, was a near perfect child, my sisters caused all the problems!), I can’t recall of her ever raising her voice or saying an unkind word to another family member, friend, or acquaintance, nor did I ever know of her having any enemies in this world.  And as part of her obligation to her family, she would, usually, in a very meek and mild manner, remind us of our mistakes if any of us did.”

So, I think I will put among my New Years resolutions a desire to be more like my mom!

Maybe we should all ask ourselves: “How many other people do I know, including myself, who I could say this about?”