Gone but not forgotten

Today would have been my Mom's 76th birthday. Above is a picture taken about a year before she passed away, by a friend of hers from the Village. It was rare to see her without a smile on her face and that was the comment he made with the email this came in.

Two years have passed, but not a day goes by that I don't think of picking up the phone or getting in the car and heading over to visit. They say each sibling gets a different parent and I would agree with that. Of the eight of us, my life mirrored my mom's in several ways. The older I got, the more in tune I became with my mom, because life had dealt us some of the same experiences. It was flattering that when I moved down here, she was disappointed that I wasn't looking for a house in St. Pete.

Do you ever say "Oh my God, I'm becoming/sound like my mother?" Most women say it as if this is a bad thing. Me? I revel in it, even before she passed away. I say hello the same way and get the same comments about having a positive attitude despite having every reason to be grumpy and miserable. I am thankful that the DNA tipped towards Mom on that front, that the mom I got taught me to have the sunny disposition.

In honor of Mom, the eternal optimist, I did something I normally don't do. I bought a scratch off, daily 3 and 4 number tickets and a Lotto ticket for tonight. My opinion has always been that this is throwing my hard earned income down the toilet. I'm not enough of a dreamer to think that I'll win. Mom was. The scratch off won me another ticket, but the second was winless. The three and four numbers were both a bust. In about 10 minutes, we'll see if I can catch Mom's dream. For a few hours, I can dream big. Why not? It's what Mom would have done.