Mother's Day has always been a special one to me. When I was little, our day always evolved around Mom (as it should.) We'd go to church then to brunch and, then for dinner, Dad would fire up the grill.
That's Mom and I at my neice's wedding.
Mom and I have a great relationship. Mom is from Pittsburgh, PA. She's fiercly loyal to the Pirates and Steelers, loves to play golf, volunteer when she can and spoils her 2 dachshunds. She and Dad have been married almost 55 years. When I lived in El Paso, I'd spend many afternoons with her in the back yard, sipping coffee and talking about everything under the sun. She's the one I've gone on shopping sprees with, asked the hard questions when life got hard, laughed with, cried with and everything in between. Mom has been my best friend. We share weekly phone calls but those just don't compare to afternoons in the back yard.
This beautiful lady I had the honor of meeting in 1997 after looking and looking for about 15 years. This is Cheryl - my most wonderful birthmom. I won't go into all of the details but, as most stories like these go, she was young (only 20) and unmarried. I don't know how she did it but she made the decision to give me up for adoption. She told me that it was, of course, the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life.
When Cheryl and I finally did meet, the resemblance, as you can see, was uncanny. I couldn't stop looking at her. We discovered we had the same mannerisms, facial expressions. We even sat on the couch the same way. Suffice to say, it was rather eerie and took some time to get used to. I lived in New Mexico at the time and then DC so we were relegated to email and phone calls. Every once in a while we'd find the time to chat online.
In 1999, she called to tell me that she had been diagnosed with cancer. It was stage 4 and there really wasn't much that could be done. She bravely faced chemo and radiation, accepted the challenges and the changes her body went through. When she started losing her hair, she shaved it off and found a new love for hats.
She left this world in April of 2000 and not a day goes by that I don't think about her. I wish she could have met my folks. It might have been awkward but I know she would have loved them - they would have loved her.
I would have loved to have the chance to sit in the back yard with Mom and Cheryl and talk about life, love and what makes the world go 'round.
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