Saturday, November 5, 2022
My brother Adriano and I want to thank everyone for your condolences on the passing of our Mom. For those that were unable to make our mass, I wanted to share the beautiful eulogy my brother gave at church.
We'll Always Remember
That special smile
that caring heart.
That warm embrace
you always gave us.
You being there
for dad and us,
through good and bad times
no matter what.
We'll always remember
you mom because
there'll never be no one
to replace you in our hearts.
And the love we will always
have for you.
While preparing for this day, i came across that prayer…..a prayer for Mom…..and wanted to share it with you.
Obviously a person will always have a special place in their hearts for their mother…….
their grandmother……
their wife……
their aunt…..
their godmother……
But over the past few days…..listening to all the condolences and outpouring of emotion for my mom…I felt something that I think I already knew…..that my family is not alone in feeling that love……
My mom,,,,,,Norma,,,,,,,held a special place in the hearts of so many of her friends, and mine and my brother’s friends…..She was loved by so many that knew her, and that means so much to me and my family…..
Now when it comes to my mother’s life and her story ……What can I say that everyone doesn’t already know……..
she was steeped in tradition,
proud of her heritage,
loved her family…
her children and her grandchildren…
and she loved her friends…..
and the she loved the Boat Club, The Midget, which was a 2nd home to my Mom and Dad for over 50 years……
she always talked about her life, and what mattered to her, with anyone and everyone that would listen. We all know her story.
One thing I heard about my mom over and over for the past few days, as everyone tried to process her unexpected death….even though she was 82…..is that her death was SO unexpected because she was always a Strong woman…….
and, THAT she was, STRONG.
On that note, I want to share with you a story that happened just over a week ago…..on the day before Michael and Allie’s wedding. That Friday night when I FaceTimed her to ask how her day was ((she LOVED to FaceTime)) she told me “you’ll never believe what happened on my way to Mima’s”……..as I’m sure everyone knows, Mima was my mom’s hairdresser for 60 years….. and one of her closest and dearest friends…..she loved Mima and she LOVED to get her hair done at Mima’s house in MiddleVillage, Queens.
So anyway, she tells me that while pulling out of her garage, she hears something funny - a sort of banging. She gets out of the car and sees she has a flat tire, and that the tire is 1/2 way off the rim.
i said oh my God, you should have called me….and she responded….”WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO?? YOU WERE AT WORK IN THE CITY. I HAD TO GET TO MIMA’s!!”
She calls Mima and tells her she might be a little late, call’s her mechanic to make sure they were opened and she drives ON HER FLAT, WITH THE TIRE COMING OFF THE RIM to the mechanic - SEE GEE just across the street from this church. As she drives the few blocks, pedestrians are waving her down to alert her about the tire situation. She just smiles at the random people and waves back saying she knows, she knows.
When she pulls into the mechanic’s driveway, one guy looks at the rim and says they can’t help because there is too much damage and tells her she should go to a tire place…
The owner recognizes my mom, as so many people do, walks over and says he’ll take care of it, he has a tire and can order a rim and have it there before he gets the car on the lift and get the old tire off. She gets it fixed in under an hour. She even managed to get her car inspected while she was there too!
So My Mom made it to Mima like 60 minutes late, and got her hair done for the wedding…….And she looked amazing!
That was my mom, strong, determined…..and with great hair!!!
I will miss my mom, I will miss those daily FaceTime calls, and I will definitely miss her cooking, BUT……I know that while she is gone from this world, she will live on through all of us that hold that special place in their hearts for her……..I thank everyone for keeping her spirit alive forever….
THANK YOU ALL.
