Milestones…

We all have milestones in our lives.

Hell – I just had a major milestone in mine by turning 50 but birthdays don’t always have to be milestones.

Everyone and I do mean everyone has specific milestones that stay with them their whole lives.

Today – October 16, 2015 is a milestone day for my family.

Today October 16, 1995, my siblings and I lost our mother to cancer.

There I said it!!! I even said it out loud. It’s been hard for me to say that out loud.

And I am not trying to make this about me, me, me because over the past 20 years I have seen how this has affected my Sib’s as well.

My mother – she was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I am probably going to write this with rose coloured glasses extolling her virtues blah blah blah BUT while my mother may not have been perfect- she was a HELLUVA of a woman!!!

My mother- her name was Beverly – gave birth to 9 children – that alone awarded her a medal.

Mom cooked for us and she cleaned for us and she took care of us as best she could with what little money we had. Mom ran that house with the military precision of a drill Sergeant.

Every morning prepping 9 kids for school, with 9 lunches and 9 breakfasts and 9 and 9 and 9!!!

My father had a good job but raising 9 children on his salary was difficult considering that 8 of them were girls!!!

Were we poor?? At the time I thought we were for sure – brat that I was. While we may have been cash poor- we were the richest family in the world because of the values that Mom and Dad instilled in us.

My Mom’s ability to stretch that meal, take in second hand clothes, and not be too proud to take washing machines from neighbours who were getting new ones – or that second hand lawn mower – and gardening – good Lord did we have a big garden – THAT is just one of the reasons why today I could give a tiny rats ass about “things” AND I love thrift stores.

Mom was a classy broad – she really was. Mom never really had the opportunity to get all dressed up and go out on the town in a pretty dress but when she did – wow – she was so beautiful.

1994/1995 was rough on my Sib’s and I.

We lost our dad in 1994 and then our Mom in 1995 – they were both very young and that essentially turned us into orphans (to coin the term loosely).

Years have gone by – 20 of them be exact – and every day -and no shit -every day I miss my Mom and my Dad too of course.

Mom was our glue and as of late I feel our glue is getting a little thin.

This may piss some of my Sib’s off so I will apologise to them in advance but I feel that our glue has come a little undone.

Ya ya – we all have lives – and we all have shit going on in our lives and we all certainly have different personalities and like true siblings we fight and argue and he said this and she said that but let’s get real here people- we really are all that we have left of Mom and Dad!!!

Dad’s passing was painful – Mom’s passing so soon after was devastating.

I really would like to think that I am a lot like my Mom. I can surely stretch a meal – partially because all my recipes are for 11+ people – I don’t care if my clothes are designer because really? they are just clothes – I like to laugh – OK I hate to garden – but I don’t mind hard work – and I hate to see things coming unglued.

So – let me sum this up – Mom – where ever you are – this one is for you!!

Thank you for putting up with my stupidity – you were right -I truly apologise if I was EVER disrespectful – I miss you every day – thank you for instilling in me your values so that I could in turn instill them in my children and thank you for continuing to inspire me even though you are gone.

C’est la vie – C’est la mort.

XXOO