Happy Birthdays!

Today is my sister Mary's birthday and tomorrow will be my brother Paul's. I've been thinking about them both a lot the past few days as their birthdays have approached and I hope they both have fantastic days. I don't talk to either of them super often, but we all know that we love each other.

When I called Mary's cell today, I asked if I'd caught her at work, and then felt rather stupid about my question when she reminded me that she had traveled to see her daughter and that she would be at her grandchild's baptism this weekend. You see, I knew that. She'd mentioned on FB how excited she was to be going to see them. And then I realized my problem.

You see, for my whole life, I and my siblings had the most amazing gift. The 411. Access to all information that was important to keep up with. And the source was our mom.

It's been just about 7 months since mom died. And although I didn't think much about the role she played in being our "glue" when she was alive and well, I think about it now.  Even though I spent most of my life living in distant cities, mom and I spoke at least once a week, often more. She loved to keep me (and all of us) up to date on the latest family news (okay, gossip.)  Sometimes she'd forget she'd already told you something but you didn't mind because, hey, you knew she was sharing that same story with at least 7 children, 4 grown up grandchildren and various assorted other relatives.

If mom were healthy and still with us, she'd have made sure I knew where Mary was and most likely would have reminded me to call her. I'd hear the whole story about baby Ellie's baptism and Paulie's birthday too.

My sister Alice who took such wonderful care of mom is sort of taking over mom's 411 role a bit. Maybe I think that because just like mom was always the hub for our many spokes, Alice is now the one that everyone checks in with (especially the brothers who my mom worried most about.)  But Alice has a busy life and can't possibly play the role that mom did, and she does not need to. No one else ever really could anyway..

Mom, if you can hear me typing, I hope you know that you made life fun. And interesting. And I miss you. -M