I'll Give You A Daisy A Day, Dear...

Mom and me. Summer 2014

I called and spoke with Mom yesterday morning. I wanted to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving and we shared our plans for the holiday. We talked about all those little things we always covered. I told her I probably wouldn't be coming north until spring, but that we'd keep in touch on the telephone until I could see her again. 

We ended our conversation the same way we always do..."I love you, Mom" and "I love you, too, honey". After I hung up the phone, I said it again to myself..."I love you, Mom."

When I got home from Paneras last night, Handsome took my hands in his and I knew something was different. He said, "I'm so glad you had a nice talk with Grace today. I'm sorry, honey. While you were gone, Deb (Grace's eldest child) called. Grace died this afternoon."

I called Deb (who calls me "Sis") and we talked about how I had just spoken with Mom on the phone today. We were both so glad that I had talked with her, and we cried together over our shared grief.

Mom didn't want an obituary. She said she didn't want her life distilled down to one paragraph, but I asked Deb if I could write about Mom on my blog today. She immediately said "yes". She knows I've written about Mom here in the past, and if you've been here regularly, I hope you've come to know this beautiful woman through my eyes.

Mom lived her entire eighty six years with decency and poise. She taught me more about love and life in the forty one years I've known her than anyone else. She loved me like her own children and often referred to me to others as her "third daughter". It was another of her gifts to me. She left this life as she lived it...quietly and with dignity. She simply fell asleep in her chair.

Her children, Deb, Damon, Dion and DeeDee, their families - and her "third daugher" - now mourn the loss of her light in our lives. There will be no fanfare on her passing. She didn't want that. So, I'll honor her the way I always have, by continuing to be the kind of woman who would make her proud.

Her favorite flowers were daisies. I would send them to her on every special occasion or holiday. When we were together, I would remind her of the words to the song...

"I'll give you a daisy a day dear, 

I'll give you a daisy a day.

I'll love you until the rivers run still,

And the four winds we know blow away."

She would have had a delivery of daisies today for Thanksgiving. Perhaps I'll order some to deliver here, instead, in her memory.

This is how I'll always remember her.

January 23, 1928 - November 25, 2014

Rest well, Mom. Until we're together again...I'll see you in my dreams.

  Love always,  Your Third Daughter,