I carry in my heart the love my mother shared with me and my brother.  She not only made us felt loved – but she went out of her way to give us the attention that each of us needed.  I never doubted for a moment how much my mother loved me, or my brother, and that she gave that love unconditionally. One of this blog’s authors said the joy of his life was to be a father.  I believe that to my mother, at least it seemed to me, being a mother, and later a grandmother, were the joys of her life.

She took the greatest joy in doing the smallest things for us. She enjoyed making our favorite foods, mine was rolled tacos (taquitos), my oldest daughter’s favorite was biscuits. I never felt that anything we asked was an inconvenience to her.  She was the benchmark for every other woman I met.

My mother had this knack for knowing what I needed to hear whenever we talked. She also loved to give me, “unwanted and unneeded” (her words) advice during those conversations. I miss those conversations, I miss her advice, but mostly I miss her unconditional love.

My mother passed away 2 years ago – and I have no doubts she went to heaven.  She believed in God with the same fervor she loved her children and her husband, my father.  I don’t weep for my mother anymore – she is in a better place, of that I’m sure. I think about her every day, but this day always makes me wish for one more taco dinner, and an evening of unwanted and unneeded advice.