The things that made my mom happy...

I have decided to use some of the pictures I have to help tell stories about my mom. Part of this is because I really love talking about her to both people who knew her and some who never had that opportunity. Another reason is that I believe this will be cathartic for me.

Here are some things that always brought a smile to her face:

Naturally I will start with her beloved Nick. This was her absolute favorite picture of my boy. The expression on his face was just priceless, in her opinion. He was six weeks old and we had photographers come out to the house to take pictures. They interrupted his feeding time and he was seriously annoyed.. the look on his face definitely shows that!



My mom's passing robbed my nephew Christian of the chance to get to know her as my son did. That was a way of history repeating itself in our family as the same thing happened to my younger brother. He was only a month when our grandfather passed away. I was the fortunate one who got nearly 7 years of love and attention from the wonderful man. My mom kept her dad alive with stories and pictures of him to share with my brother. I know that Christian's daddy will do the same and so will his Auntie. This boy made my mom so happy and this picture shows it.



Next to her children and grandsons what brought my mom the most joy in life were her friends. She had many of them whose friendships with her lasted decades. Two of her oldest and dearest friends retired to Mexico back in 2004. My mom visited them four times, including a two week visit this past May, and loved it there. I'm not sure on which visit these pictures were taken but she looks amazing. Tan, healthy, and young.






My mom loved this bird so much. Bogey was his name and she adored every squawking moment of that birds existence. He passed away in the summer of 2006 during my mom's first battle with cancer. She was devastated and still talked about him until she passed away. I think this is a great picture and shows just how much she and her beloved cockatiel connected.




This was the prettiest corner of her beloved backyard. My mom loved this yard so much and put in many hours caring for it. She spent alot of time back there after she took a medical retirement and it was calming for her. There were many mornings that I would call her after Nick got off to school where she'd be outside "playing in the water", as she called it. She was always proud to show off all her hard work so I know she's smiling at me showing it here.



One of the things about my mom that resonates from looking at pictures of her favorite things in life is how she valued the simple and most important things; love, beauty, friendship, and family. She didn't care if you took her to a fancy restaurant, she cared about the company. She valued sincerity more than anything and took no guff from just about anyone. She spoke her mind and stood up for herself and anyone she loved with the fervor of a mama lion. I grew up thinking that we didn't have much in common but as I aged I began to see many similarities between us. I hope so because it's an honor to continue those patterns of behavior and to value what's most important as she did.