A Tribute to My Mother

Today is my mom's birthday. It's difficult to imagine that she would have been 54 this year! How quickly the years have gone by since she's left us. And not one day goes by that I do not think of her in some way. I wonder how thrilled she'd be to know she was a grandmother to five beautiful children (3 of mine and 2 of my brother's). To think that she would visit them, laugh and play with them. My grandmother often talks about my mother, though my children are still very young to understand the difference between a grandmother and a great-grandmother.

And sometimes, I catch a glimpse of my mother in my daughter's eyes. A tilt of her head, the curve of her cheek, I'm not sure what it is yet. My daughter is still a baby, but even my uncle (my mother's brother) commented when I first brought her home from the hospital that out of all three of my children, my daughter looks most like my mother in some small way. Of course, all of my children, including myself, have her chin (that's a recognizable trait that has been passed down from my grandmother! lol).

Yes, this is me with my mother.

I miss my mother more now than I ever did. She died when I was eleven. Now I'm an adult, a mother and a wife, and I yearn to have that mother/daughter companionship. There are so many questions I have for her, regarding parenting issues, career, education, relationships, what to make for dinner, oh, the list goes on and on.

 Even still on the days when I'm sick with a cold, I think how nice it was when I was little, to have my mother make me chicken soup. Just her presence in the room always made me feel better. I've remembered this just recently when my son had an earache (something I used to get frequently as a child). He whimpered in pain, but the moment I sat next to him, holding him, his whimpers ceased and he grew calm. And I remembered how my mother's mere presence always soothed me.

I also inherited the love of reading and writing from my mother. If it wasn't for her teaching me her love of books, I doubt I would have chosen a career as an author today. She was an avid romance reader and most of my childhood I remember her always with a book in her hand. I also learned after she died that she was a writer, too. After going through her stuff, I found a box of notebooks. She had written several short stories and had contacted some businesses about writing book reviews. Though she didn't have the chance to get published, I believe she would have succeeded. I could see the talent shining through even in her rough drafts.

My father was kind enough to keep her library of books and when I moved out of my house, he gave them to me. She read hundreds, maybe thousands! I'm sad to say now that I didn't keep all of them. At that point in my life, I couldn't imagine ever reading all of them! But a few of her favorites were Danielle Steel, Rosemary Rogers, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz.

Although she has been gone for so very long, there are still many who remember her. She was a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and teacher. She was kind and patient and loving. She has touched the lives of so many of us. And now my children take a part of her into the future so she will never be forgotten. And, though I still miss her so very much, I know she is always with me.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

Patty Zimmerman

January 11, 1958 - August 23, 1989