May 30, 2021
May 30, 2021
I felt incredibly honored to speak about Gigi at her service. When Steve first suggested both of us daughter-in-laws share a story, I initially hesitated. I wasn’t sure if I had a right to do so, after having only a few short years of her in my life. But knowing Gigi changed me.
I first met her long before I met Scott, in Jess & Dave’s Parkway Lofts apartment. My first thought, of course, was “Wow. Dave’s mom is beautiful”, which is generally everyone’s first reaction upon meeting her. A few years passed, and one January day, I saw as she often did, a Facebook post tagging her family at a local Jersey City bar, just a few minutes from where I was living at the time. In an effort to reconnect with an old friend (Jess) and meet her baby (Meadow), I joined them and was immediately greeted by Gigi’s huge smile. She remembered me from two years prior, saying oh, yes, you’re a photographer. I was shocked that this woman would remotely remember who I was, but I later learned that Gigi was just innately that way - despite her tough Italian-girl-from-the-Bronx attitude, she was incredibly sensitive and tuned in to the needs of others. She took note of everything you told her and stored it away for a later time; she had a way of making you feel seen. If you said you liked a certain object (or color or tv show), you better believe she remembered that fact and she’s buying you two of every item (or color, or TV show memorabilia) she finds.
From the beginning, Gigi treated me like family and took me in as a daughter from day one. She made it abundantly clear she treated her two sons and two gained daughters equally, while also making each of us feel special in our own right.
I was thrilled to have this funny, fashionable, spunky mother-in-law. I imagined her by my side picking out a wedding dress and teasing me for weird baby names that I loved. Her wit was like watching a dance - she had a response to everything and always made it known. (To be honest, you’d think that I would have driven her crazy, with all of my opinions and sass, but she never made me feel like I should be anything less than myself in front of her.) Her unconditional love was a force to be reckoned with, and she had an innate read of people within moments of meeting them.
Scott and I got engaged in early November by her bed after she had started a new round of chemo. It wasn’t his original plan - but we stopped there to show her the ring, and in that moment, it felt genuine and real, for no one else but us. She filmed a video of the proposal, and in typical Gigi fashion, she annotated the whole thing - “Do you wanna marry him?” “Ok now put it on her finger” “FINALLY, ugh”
I will never not mourn the future we lost with her, the wedding she’ll miss, the babies she won’t meet. But I am grateful to her, every day of my life, for raising Scott into the man he is today. She taught him love - she taught all of us love, that unconditional, never going away kind of love - and now it’s our turn to carry on her legacy. I can only hope I’ll be half the mother she was, but I’ll do everything I can to come close. I love you Gigi, and I miss you every day. Thank you for being so special to me.
I first met her long before I met Scott, in Jess & Dave’s Parkway Lofts apartment. My first thought, of course, was “Wow. Dave’s mom is beautiful”, which is generally everyone’s first reaction upon meeting her. A few years passed, and one January day, I saw as she often did, a Facebook post tagging her family at a local Jersey City bar, just a few minutes from where I was living at the time. In an effort to reconnect with an old friend (Jess) and meet her baby (Meadow), I joined them and was immediately greeted by Gigi’s huge smile. She remembered me from two years prior, saying oh, yes, you’re a photographer. I was shocked that this woman would remotely remember who I was, but I later learned that Gigi was just innately that way - despite her tough Italian-girl-from-the-Bronx attitude, she was incredibly sensitive and tuned in to the needs of others. She took note of everything you told her and stored it away for a later time; she had a way of making you feel seen. If you said you liked a certain object (or color or tv show), you better believe she remembered that fact and she’s buying you two of every item (or color, or TV show memorabilia) she finds.
From the beginning, Gigi treated me like family and took me in as a daughter from day one. She made it abundantly clear she treated her two sons and two gained daughters equally, while also making each of us feel special in our own right.
I was thrilled to have this funny, fashionable, spunky mother-in-law. I imagined her by my side picking out a wedding dress and teasing me for weird baby names that I loved. Her wit was like watching a dance - she had a response to everything and always made it known. (To be honest, you’d think that I would have driven her crazy, with all of my opinions and sass, but she never made me feel like I should be anything less than myself in front of her.) Her unconditional love was a force to be reckoned with, and she had an innate read of people within moments of meeting them.
Scott and I got engaged in early November by her bed after she had started a new round of chemo. It wasn’t his original plan - but we stopped there to show her the ring, and in that moment, it felt genuine and real, for no one else but us. She filmed a video of the proposal, and in typical Gigi fashion, she annotated the whole thing - “Do you wanna marry him?” “Ok now put it on her finger” “FINALLY, ugh”
I will never not mourn the future we lost with her, the wedding she’ll miss, the babies she won’t meet. But I am grateful to her, every day of my life, for raising Scott into the man he is today. She taught him love - she taught all of us love, that unconditional, never going away kind of love - and now it’s our turn to carry on her legacy. I can only hope I’ll be half the mother she was, but I’ll do everything I can to come close. I love you Gigi, and I miss you every day. Thank you for being so special to me.