My mom at age sixteen.
Today marks two years since I got the phone call from my father in the middle of the night telling me my mother had passed away.
I miss her terribly.
She was a wonderful mother. She was funny. She was smart. She was kind. I want to call her, tell her of some news, share an update about a childhood friend, make her laugh. I loved, loved, loved making my mother laugh. I had a whole bunch of little routines I would perform for her that made her giggle or, even better, got her laughing so hard she would cry.
That’s Mere looking up at me. She was adorable. And that’s my grandmother – Mom’s mother – and my other sister. (Recognize that painting? It’s hanging on my staircase wall.)
I look very much like her, so when I look in the mirror – I see her. Same chin, same heart-shaped face, same eyebrows, same cheekbones, same nose, same widow’s peak.
Meredith and I spoke last night, both of us aware that today would be a sad anniversary.
I’ve lit a candle in remembrance.
I love you Mom. Don loves you.
In a few short days, it will be exactly six months since my father died.
A bittersweet week: full of sadness, but full of loving memories, as well.
Happy Sunday.
Yes, you do look like your mom, Claudia. How nice is that. Isn’t it amazing how our mothers always looked so elegant as we were growing up. Mine, too, wore dresses and heels often. I’m sorry for your loss. We never get over the loss of our mother; w e just live with it. :(
Sending you a hug, Deb
Thank you, Deb.
Beautiful pictures Claudia, Take care.
Thank you, Doris.
Such wonderful memories!
Love you,
Eileen
Yes, they are wonderful, Eileen. And you are such a part of all of them. xoxo
Beautiful tribute to your mom. And yes, you do look just like her. Loving thoughts to you on this particularly hard day.
Thank you, Melanie.
She was such a pretty lady..I’m glad for you that she was also a good Mom…Hugs..
She was. Thank you, Nancy.
A beautiful post, Claudia. How lucky you are, to have such happy memories.
Thank you, Nancy.
Thank you for sharing some of your treasured memories and photos. Hoping happy memories and thoughts help you throughout your day. Fierce hugs….
Thank you, Wendy.
Thinking of you on this very special day. It is amazing just how much you do look like your mother.
I relate to the ways you miss her, and all that you would like to share. You will understand me saying that I have similar feelings about my mother – even though she is still living. I miss being able to have a meaningful conversation with her.
Holding you close in my heart and prayers.
I absolutely do understand, for we were going through that same thing during the last two years of Mom’s life. Thank you, Beverly. Thinking of you.
You really do look like her! Sweet pictures….sweet memories for you, of which I am sure! ;)
Thank you, Donnamae.
Thinking of you today!
Judy
Thank you, Judy!
You certainly DO look like your mother, Claudia. You should get one of those hinged two-part picture frames and put the photo of your Mom at 16 on one side, and maybe YOUR high school graduation photo on the other side. I bet there’d be more than a few comments about it from company and visitors to MHC. Some people might even wonder if it’s one person – or two – in the frame. That’s how striking a resemblance you two share. Beaming you a squishy virtual (( hug )) on this sad anniversary, as well as another image to think about – your parents being back together again, surrounded by the happily-swishing tails of all your furry kids, their “granddogs.”
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Thank you, Janet.
The resemblance of you and your mom is striking! She was really a “sweet sixteen”! Glad you have such wonderful memories of her. I love the photos from that era, the clothing and hair styles. I have many of my mom too. Cherish!
I love those photos, too. Thank you, Susan.
You do look so much like your Mother. It’s funny to see their face in our mirrors! Two years, seems like not that long ago does it, but yet so long. I am going on 11 years since my Dad passed and I will always miss him. You still have Meredith to share memories with, when I lose my Mom I will have no one. Life isn’t always like we plan is it.
hugs,
Linda
No, it isn’t. We certainly didn’t expect to lose our brother to cancer so many years ago and then to lose our sister to estrangement. It’s just the two of us now. Thinking of you, dear Linda.
sending prayers for comfort, strength and peace of mind and heart to you all …
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy.
You said it perfectly Claudia, and yes I was looking up at you adoringly, I still do.
love you,
Mere
I love you, sister. xoxo
Gone but not forgotten~forever in our hearts!
Love your old pictures. Weren’t are mom’s so glamorous at a young age!!!
Addie
They were much more glamorous than we were at age 16! Thank you, Addie.
You and your mom (and Meredith, I think) all look so much alike! In that Sweet Sixteen picture, your mom looks like she has so much hope and happiness in her face!
In 3 weeks it will be 12 years since I lost my Mom, and I still think “I should call mom and tell her…..”.
I don’t think we ever lose that. ?
Meredith looks very much like my brother, too. I don’t think we ever stop wanting to call our parents, even when they’ve been gone a long time. Thank you, Chris.
Beautiful tribute to your Mom.
You never know how much you miss them till you see that vacant chair or that last phone call.
Very true. Thank you, Carolann.
You do look like her, Claudia. And I love the picture of her in the floral dress. So glamorous. It was a different world, and I miss many things about it. Mainly, the greatest generation who are dying out.
It’s funny, but I look EXACTLY like my husband’s grandmother. And my mother told me that she had never thought I looked that much like her until a friend’s mother painted a portrait of me at 30. Mama said it spooked her because she felt like she was looking into a mirror. The older I get, the more I see her. I have her hands. I have her smile. I carry myself like she did. Her hair. But I also see my dad. I lost them both when I was very young, and the older I get, the more I miss them.
In a few days, my mother will have been gone for 26 years. It seems like yesterday. And Daddy has been gone for over 40 years. That is really shocking to me. We were so close that I feel his presence with me every day of my life, but it’s not sad. It’s comforting. I hope you will feel the same way as time passes.
Saying you miss laughing with your mother… I can hear mine laughing, too, and she would call me to tell me things that she thought were funny about my grandmother. She would get so tickled at things that would upset my aunt to pieces. She had a great laugh.
It is so important to be able laugh, to find the humor in life, and that is one thing I really loved best about my mother. My husband is very much like her in that respect. I was always the earnest child, but I love to laugh, too. And I think you and I have that in common. We like the same comedy… Frasier.
Checking in while I still have a computer and wanted you to know I’m thinking of you.
xo
Sheila
Thank you, Sheila. Laughing is so important. As turbulent as some of my home life was, I remember laughing a lot. We all laughed a lot and that is so important. Luckily, I have Don who can make me laugh so hard I have to beg him to stop.
I smiled thinking of Don making you laugh so hard you beg him to stop. Sounds so familiar!
I think we both got winners in the husband department. Funny, intelligent, kind men. The best!!! xo
We sure did!
Hugs to you and Meredith. xx
Thank you, Amy.
Oh, Claudia, I’m so sorry. I know how much you miss your mom – and your dad. Your mom is so beautiful and you do look so much like her. The photo with Mere looking up at you is adorable. And I can hardly believe your Mom was only 16 in that first photo! I have some of my mom at a young age like that, too. They were so sophisticated and elegant in that era that I always think they look so much older than 16 or 17. Thinking of you and happy that you have so many lovely memories.
They were so much more adult-looking than we were at that age, Donna. Thank you, my friend.
Today we celebrated my father’s 90th birthday. It was hard to sing Happy Birthday without my mom. She passed away almost four years ago. In reading the comments I am comforted to realize we all share a similar sadness with our mothers passing yet we look to the past with a fond remembrance too. I love looking at pictures of my mother when she was young.
We do share that. Happy Birthday to your father, Ann, though I know it is bittersweet without your mom.
My heart is with you. Too many losses in too short a time. The anniversaries of my parents’ deaths were this weekend, mom Apr 23 1982 and my dad Apr 24 2001. Those they divorced in the late ’70s, my dad never remarried and always said mom was the love of his life. It felt cosmic that his eventual death was just one day after hers. Maybe somewhere they are together getting along at last. I hope that is true with your parents, too. Sending you wishes for comfort and good memories.
Oops! Typo–dad died in 2011.
xo
I’m absolutely sure they are together without any disagreements or stress. I think that is all wiped away when we move on. Thank you, Nora.
I lost my Dad in 1976 and my Mom will be gone 13 years this June. I cherish the old photographs of my parents as well. Sending you hugs Claudia. I too want to pick up the phone and speak with my Mom again. I still reach for it several times a week. xoxo
Thank you, Maureen. It’s so hard, isn’t it?
Well, I always recall the expression, that sometimes it all comes down so hard that you need a hat.
You have a lot of sad dates surrounding you right now.
Ugh, Claudia, I’m not feeling well! I picked up a bug; lost the whole day Sunday and still feel ultra yucky. I can’t think of anything to write; brain is not working. But I’m thinking of you.
Feel better, Vicki!