When visiting Mom at Casa Cieneguita where she spent her last year or so, it was always interesting to discover what subject Mom would “choose” on each visit. Sometimes, she recounted her days with her sisters at the Grogan Hotel in Quitman. Other times she spoke repeatedly of her Dad’s career. She explored her own religious beliefs; she railed against unnamed iniquities; she talked about how many children she had (2) and was so surprised when I told her she in fact had five!

Oh, Mom…we miss you so. You may not have known exactly who we were near the end, but you sure did make us feel the lifetime of love you had always given us. It was a tough day, several months back when Bob and I were visiting you at Casa Cieneguita. We’d all been talking for the better part of an hour when you looked from one of us to the other and asked, “Do you two know each other?” It was the first real confirmation that we were in part, strangers to you…though we never felt less loved. As Bob said, seeing that smile was plenty good enough as you greeted us with “Hi, Sweetie!”

When we were little and on the rare occasion our parents would go out for a fancy evening, Mom would wear the most divine emerald green and white satin evening coat. She was breathtaking. When she got home, she ALWAYS came into each of our rooms to kiss us goodnight. She leaned over us with the rustle of satin and the unmistakable fragrance of Jungle Gardenia perfume. Those memories will stay with me forever. Oh, how I wish I had a photo. Oh, how I wish I still had my Mama.