It’s hard to believe we are nine weeks into the new year! This week’s topic is “Gone Too Soon”. This is a bittersweet one for me. I think of my mother and how I would have loved more time with her.  I was a child when she died from complications of diabetes.

My mother and I share a lack of height, a sense of humor, and love of music, although she loved country music, and I love rock. She taught me to sing when I was very young, and I still sing or have music around almost every day. She was extroverted and I am more introverted. She was a drum major and cheerleader in high school. I’ve always been more academic.  We share a love of accessories. We grew up in the same house. I was fortunate to have my grandmother raise me after her death, with my father’s job keeping him on the road.

One very vivid memory stands out to me. My mother did not work outside the home. She often watched any number of my cousins. She would also take my grandma shopping as she didn’t drive. One day, she had my grandmother, a cousin, and me in the car. We were in a neighboring town that had a lift bridge over the Erie Canal. The bridge was starting to go up, and my mom drove off. We managed to get off the bridge but ruined the tires on the car. When asked why she did it, she said she just didn’t want to be on the bridge while it was going up in the air!

There are so many questions I would like to ask her. Questions my grandmother would not answer or could not answer. Questions my dad didn’t know the answer to – such as where she came up with my name and the spelling. In general, many questions!

I wish I had more pictures of her. I treasure the one’s I have. My favorite is her, age 5, in my grandpa’s garden. Some of the plants are taller than she. Her hair is in ringlets. She has a huge smile on her face. I always smile when I look at it because she is so happy. And that is how I like to remember her – happy.