June first is a bitter sweet day.

I sit here with tears in my eyes to tell you why. Today is the day the world lost an amazing woman. She was smart, funny, unexpectedly goofy on occasion, witty, not just smart, wicked smart, sassy, just to name a few of her better qualities.

Oh, there is so much I could tell you and I know I’ve told you a few things before, so many things I loved and others loved about her. She was a foodie, someone who knew what to pair, as in what beer or wine goes with what food, a great cook, yet pb&j and breakfast for dinner was on the menu. She could dress up and dress down, just by adding an embellishment to her outfit. She could cheer you up with a look or a gesture, wake you up with light touches on your back and her question in the morning when she touched your face “did you take a soft pill?”.

She taught us to never go to bed angry and as my sister posted today on Facebook, one of the things my parents established is kissing their kids on the keppy [head] goodnight and saying “sleep well, get up well and I love you”.

It was eleven years ago today that she lost her battle with bone cancer. She had enough and who could blame her, she fought an amazing fight and before she passed, she gave my sister an amazing wedding and as a family, we went on a cruise, she knew how to make an entrance and an exit.

Something I decided to do on the first anniversary was to cut and donate my hair. It felt good and a great tribute to her and I decided to do it again two years later and two years after that. This year is my fifth [if you’re good at math, you might realize that I should have done it last year, I didn’t have enough hair to give, so this year was it] and final year cutting and donating my hair. It has been a journey of love and I would not change anything for the world.

Mommy, I miss you and love you so very much and as I close I kiss you on the keppy and I say “sleep well, get up well and I love you”.