Today is your birthday
But a gift I cannot give
For you’ve gone on to Heaven
And I must stay here and live

I know one sweet day
I will see you again
I will kiss your soft cheek
And hold you again

Until that day comes
Hold me close in your heart
And know that even your death
Cannot keep us apart


Happy Birthday my dear, sweet Mother.

Mom loved birthday's.  She loved her birthday especially because she shared it with a very special person......her twin brother Ed.  A couple of months ago she told me she was going to call Uncle Eddie and ask him to come down here so that the two of them could celebrate their birthdays together.  It was not to be.

Diana

Mother was an excellent cook.  Although the only food item I could cook when I got married the first time was spaghetti, over the years I would call and get recipes for my other favorites like meatloaf, stuffed cabbage and pork roast.  But, there is one recipe I never asked for............liver and onions! YUCK!

Mother loved her liver!  She also loved chicken and dumplings, polish sausage and cheesecake.  The very thing she missed the most about moving into the Assisted Living Facility was that she could no longer cook.

But, she's back to cooking now.  Ever see a chubby angel??  Just wait!

Diana

At age 16, most kids are impulsive and a bit selfish.  I was no different.  I graduated early from high school at 16.  My mom moved Heaven and Earth to get me a full ride at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  I attended for a full month until I learned that I would be required to give a speech in front of the entire class during Speech class.  I was painfully shy and the thought of giving a speech in front of strangers terrified me and was ultimately the reason I dropped out of college.  After all my mom's hard work to get that for me, I quit.  Less than a year later, I impulsively took the tests to get into the service.  I was only 17 and needed both my parents written permission to join.  I not only broke my mother's heart once, but twice. First by quitting school and years later I learned that she thought I had joined the Air Force to get away from her.  Of course that wasn't true and I told her so many times over the years.  While it was true I was running, I wasn't running away from her.  Since I had disappointed her so deeply by quitting college, I thought she would be proud of me as I served our country.  Turned out I was right.  She was very, very proud. That experience taught me that we have many roads from which to choose from during our travels through life and we have to look inside our hearts sometimes to take a chance on a road that seems desolate and dark but each road brings with it its own rewards if we only look for them.