HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE

Today is my mother’s birthday, and of course she wants no fuss made. Here’s how the conversation went discussing her birthday the other day:

"Ma, I am going to cook dinner for your birthday, so what would you like?"

“I don’t care; anything you make is fine.”

"OK, I am going to make a birthday cake.  What would you like?"

“Anything, Francine. It doesn’t make a difference to me; just don’t make a fuss.”

That has been the story of my mother’s life – never asking for anything for herself, but making sure everyone has exactly what they want and, most of all, what they needed.  She's always put everyone else’s needs and wants before her own; always going that extra mile for those who she loves.  She not only raised her own children, but she has taken on the responsibility of raising her grandchildren at an age when most parents are considering making that move to a much warmer climate.

She has always been a strong, independent woman – a woman far ahead of the times.  She has always made her own decisions, kept her own council, and never let anyone know what is going on in that head of hers.  She's the type of women who stood up for what she believed in and never took any crap from anyone, and god forbid you got in her way when she wanted to do something.  She's the kind of women who took no prisoners, and if she said something, well, it was not your place to question it.  Rather, it was your place to just say "yes" and do exactly what she said. She's a strong and independent woman with, most importantly, a huge heart. That is my mother Madeline!

Being totally the opposite of her mother, my grandmother was a quiet woman – but strong in her own way, a woman who raised six children and stayed married to my grandfather for over fifty years, which is huge in itself.  She was a woman who never had a mean or bad word to say about anybody and who got along with everyone – loved by one and all.  Both my mother and my grandmother had one thing in common: both had killer senses of humor.  My grandmother loved to play jokes and do funny, silly things, and my mother along with my aunt Rosie used to fall right in line with whatever foolishness my grandmother was up to.  It made for interesting Sundays in my grandparents' home when I was growing up.

All three women shared the same characteristics but differently in each of their own ways.  All three had huge hearts filled with love for their families, great senses of humor, and the strength to get through life no matter what was thrown at them.  All three of them are incredible women!

So tonight we will have a small family dinner and a birthday cake with no fuss, just the way Madeline wants it, and the way she has wanted it all her life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE! MAY YOU BE AROUND FOR MANY, MANY MORE QUIET CELEBRATIONS.