I remember:

• you taking home GI Joe chests from when you worked
• Ma Tante watching us until you got home from work
• you made great chocolate chip cookies and pies
• all the cigarettes
• your tenderness when I was sick
• you crying when we went to your mom’s grave on Mother’s Day because you couldn’t find exactly where she was buried because you couldn’t afford a headstone for her
• you and Michele cuddling in your bed after Dad went to work
• you always trying to help us understand why Dad was so grumpy all the time but we were too young to see how his constant pain affected his life
• all the Elvis Presley movies and the Saturday Creature Double Features we watched with you
• you knew all the *dirt* on the old celebrities
• Manoosh (have NO idea how to spell that)
• you taking 15 minutes before you could remember how to pronounce your mother’s maiden name from your birth certificate
• ganglion cysts, various surgeries
• telling you Emeraude perfume smelled like you were wearing PlayDoh
• you cried when I went to college
• Dad making fun of you when you cried at all those movies
• you laughing HOURS after a joke that you just got

There’s so many things I remember, but mostly I remember how much I love you and how dearly I miss you. If you were here I’d wish you Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!