May 10, 2016
Today is Mother’s Day. I wanted to spend it with my mom. I decided to make it a picnic complete with wine.
After arriving, I took out my picnic blanket, my vino, an aperitivo (snack food, Italian style) flowers, and I sat down. It is such a sunny, beautiful day to be outside together.
I really wanted to talk to Mom. I wished her a Happy Mother’s Day. I told her I was sorry that I don’t visit as often as I should. Life is so hectic that sometimes I just don’t get across town to see her.
After a few sips of wine, I said:
It was then that I felt my mom’s arms around me. It was then that the tears began to flow. Mom has never been a hugger. I know that seems strange for an Italian Mamma. But it is true.
In fact, I decided when I was about 30 years old that I would break the ice and start the hugging. One time she was sitting on a chair and laughing with her incredible, unforgettable laugh when I jumped unto her lap, wrapped my arms around her neck and said, “Love you Mom!” She laughed nervously. But she did hug me back. Over the next year I had done this move several times and it got easier for Mom each time. Hugging her kids became easier.
Mom never had trouble hugging the little ones. Her grandchildren were always given love and hugs. All the grandchildren adored their Nonna, their Grandmother. She fed them treats, she danced with them in her arms and she laughed with them.
My mom, Muriel Mattia Rossi Ricci, passed away January 29,2003. I miss her and I just wanted to be with her today. I wanted to tell her about all her great-grandchildren that she has not been able to hold, especially my granddaughter. I wanted to tell her what I am doing now—helping people discover their true Italian Soul and travel to Italy through my business, Take Me Home Italy. I wanted to let her know that as she made me promise her, we have kept the family together and Dad is doing well even though he misses you every single day.
But she knows all this. She is still here with us in our hearts. She is watching over us all. Every holiday she is there at the table, and we are cooking what she always served. I didn’t need to tell her what’s happening. She knows.
I did feel her arms around me. I did feel she was there. I could even hear her unforgettable laugh.
Before leaving her gravesite I poured a bit of wine into the ground, just for her. I asked her to greet Amelia, my Nonna, my grandmother, and Orphelia, my Bisnonna, my Great-grandmother, for me. They shaped me as much as my mother did. I miss them always as I miss my mother.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I am glad that I was able to have a mother in my life for as long as I did. I wish I had told her that more often. But she knows just the same.
Ciao for now!
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Ciao for Now!
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