I love looking through pictures and finding pictures of mothers and their children, grandmothers, and their grandchildren, or aunts and their nieces or nephews. And so, on this Mother's Day, I want you to think about all of the special ladies in your life. They don't all have to be your mother. They don't even have to be biologically related to you. What memories do you have of them or what stories do you have to tell?
I think about all of the women in my life who loved me and guided me. Women who were invested in me. I often think of my Nonna - my paternal grandmother. I was her first grandchild (and extra special, if I do say so myself...at least until my little sister was born and then we were two extra special kids). If I were to tell me children (or really anyone about her) I would say that she was the kind of woman that called everyone "Darling." She never swore - she was a real lady - but she would say "Oh my stars!" She always wore high heels, and even her house shoes were wedges. I remember visiting her and trying to be taller than her ( she was maybe 4'11'' or 5'0'') and one day I actually was. She had a pink cake ready every time we saw each other. Once, when my mother was in Dallas on a business trip, Nonna let me have some cake for breakfast. She would let me try on her red lipstick ( I guess it was Cover Girl...the logo seems really familiar) and her heels.
More than anything I remember her endless patience with me. Her soft, soothing voice. And the thousands of different ways that she let me know that she thought of me and she loved me. I try to remember the was that she and the other women in my life have showed me that their love - especially when it comes to the littles in my life.