Monday Meeting: My Mom.

I try not to get too personal on my blog, but, Today is a little different. Yesterday, I lost the most amazing woman I know, My Mom. After 11 months and 2 days fighting brain cancer she lost her fight. I'd like to introduce you to her:

There are a million and one things that I should be doing, but all I can do is think about my mom. Everything I touch and do is a constant reminder of her…so I thought I’d do what I do best and that’s talk (or in this case, write) to introduce this amazing woman to you.

I can start with the basics; my mom was a 54 year old ball buster. She knew everyone, everywhere. She was the epitome of popularity. She loved to eat out and to entertain. (Maybe that’s where I get my love for throwing a good party.) She was an educator, not just at the high school she taught at for many years, but she also played one in real life. She was hilarious…besides muttering the words “I love you” to me daily until she couldn’t speak anymore…the last cognitive thing she said to me was “HOT DAMN!” (Just last weekend when I told her I heard there were hotties in heaven). She was hard headed and stubborn. She never let the doctors tell her that her disease prognosis was weak, and she never took it as a death sentence, she fought until there was no fight left. She was full of grace and beauty. She never understood how beautiful she was, both inside and outside, but everyone she encountered knew it.

She is a supporter. Truly. She is a supporter for those she believes in. For the causes she believes in. Thankfully, myself, my husband, our businesses and our family are causes she believed in. Still on her dining room table is a copy of every magazine that I’ve ever been featured in.  She was proud. Each time I ran into her friends and acquaintances they knew exactly who I was through her stories and accolades. She was a believer.

She always had open arms. Through her I learned that not only is the family you are born into important, but the family that you choose is as equally important. Without this belief system I wouldn’t have my husband, whom she took under her wing and introduced me to on her front porch 9 years ago. My sister Marci, my Taunte Sunday. I could go on and on. With her gone, I will lean on my “family”, the one that she chose for me, so that I would not be alone without her.

There are so many things I could say about her. But I’ll leave you with this:  She told it like it was. She was humble. She was smart. She was love. She was witty. She was kind. She was bold. She was captivating. She was gracious. She was generous. She was tactful. She was mothering. She was strength. She was clever. She was smart. She was courage. She was mom.