Once again, I come to you with a heavy heart as my beloved mom passed away this morning at approximately 10:45 AM PST.
This is the hardest thing I have ever tried to write. No matter what I say in print will fall short in genuinely conveying what my mom meant to me and to those who truly knew and loved her.
My mom didn't have an easy life, but in the things that mattered, she was a very rich woman. My dad and mom divorced in 1969. My mom was a single mom before it was cool to be one. She once told me one of the worst days of her life was that the first day at work no longer being a housewife and leaving her three kids to fend for themselves. My siblings and I were latchkey kids, and that broke my mom's heart.
I told you about my dad when he passed back in October and how his courage was tested and how he passed with flying colors. I used to tease my dad that mom ranked him in the courage department.
The best thing I can say about my mom and dad's divorce is they remained friends until he died. They made sure their problems weren't their children's problems, and though there were hurt and had hard feelings at one time toward one another, they never let them be known to us.
When my dad was going through the morphine drip to keep him comfortable as his day was near when he would come to, he would call out for my mom, not me, my sister, or my brother; he called out for the women he hadn't been married to since 1969.
Getting back my mom's courage, this is only one example. We had a family business in the 1980s like many businesses it failed. My sister and mom headed to Colorado to start anew.
They bought a place in southern Colorado on 86 acres near the New Mexico state line in hopes of creating bed and breakfast not too far from an up and coming ski resort.
The local politicians thought they were going to take advantage of mom and sister and overtax them. This group had been stealing from the locals for years.
This time they picked on the wrong two women. My mom and sister formed a political action group to take on the local power structure and their corruption.
Their lives were threatened. My mom and sister were given a rare conceal to carry permit. Things were getting that nasty. Through that pressure, my mom and sister pressed on, even though the locals shot up their mailbox in an act of intimidation. Once again, they failed to stop my mom and sister.
My mom, sister and the political action group they put together had the last laugh. The politicians and some local businessmen ended up going to prison for taking on my mom and sister, who were the leaders of the group.
These politicians went to prison for fraud and voter fraud, amongst other charges. These corrupt politicians had people in prison and illegal immigrants voting to keep them in power. In a small town, every vote counts.
All this can be verified on google as my mom and sister were interviewed by the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, the main paper in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Fort Worth and beyond.
My mom wrote a friend of mine a letter about their adventures in southern Colorado and the people that developed and wrote Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and a lot more Emmy winning TV shows were impressed by mom's letter and thought she should write a treatment on the story.
She never did write that treatment.
My world is a lot emptier now that my mom is no longer on this planet. Gone is my greatest champion, the person that was there for me in victory as well as defeat. Mom never stopped believing in her kids and for me, the world will never be the same.
I was born on her birthday. I was her birthday baby. My birthday will never be quite the same now that she is gone.
Mama, I am so grateful that I was your son and you will always live in my heart. Travel well on the other side and say hi to my grandpa and all the other ones for me.
Until we meet again, I am going to continue to try to make you proud of me.
This is the hardest thing I have ever tried to write. No matter what I say in print will fall short in genuinely conveying what my mom meant to me and to those who truly knew and loved her.
My mom didn't have an easy life, but in the things that mattered, she was a very rich woman. My dad and mom divorced in 1969. My mom was a single mom before it was cool to be one. She once told me one of the worst days of her life was that the first day at work no longer being a housewife and leaving her three kids to fend for themselves. My siblings and I were latchkey kids, and that broke my mom's heart.
I told you about my dad when he passed back in October and how his courage was tested and how he passed with flying colors. I used to tease my dad that mom ranked him in the courage department.
The best thing I can say about my mom and dad's divorce is they remained friends until he died. They made sure their problems weren't their children's problems, and though there were hurt and had hard feelings at one time toward one another, they never let them be known to us.
When my dad was going through the morphine drip to keep him comfortable as his day was near when he would come to, he would call out for my mom, not me, my sister, or my brother; he called out for the women he hadn't been married to since 1969.
Getting back my mom's courage, this is only one example. We had a family business in the 1980s like many businesses it failed. My sister and mom headed to Colorado to start anew.
They bought a place in southern Colorado on 86 acres near the New Mexico state line in hopes of creating bed and breakfast not too far from an up and coming ski resort.
The local politicians thought they were going to take advantage of mom and sister and overtax them. This group had been stealing from the locals for years.
This time they picked on the wrong two women. My mom and sister formed a political action group to take on the local power structure and their corruption.
Their lives were threatened. My mom and sister were given a rare conceal to carry permit. Things were getting that nasty. Through that pressure, my mom and sister pressed on, even though the locals shot up their mailbox in an act of intimidation. Once again, they failed to stop my mom and sister.
My mom, sister and the political action group they put together had the last laugh. The politicians and some local businessmen ended up going to prison for taking on my mom and sister, who were the leaders of the group.
These politicians went to prison for fraud and voter fraud, amongst other charges. These corrupt politicians had people in prison and illegal immigrants voting to keep them in power. In a small town, every vote counts.
All this can be verified on google as my mom and sister were interviewed by the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, the main paper in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Fort Worth and beyond.
My mom wrote a friend of mine a letter about their adventures in southern Colorado and the people that developed and wrote Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and a lot more Emmy winning TV shows were impressed by mom's letter and thought she should write a treatment on the story.
She never did write that treatment.
My world is a lot emptier now that my mom is no longer on this planet. Gone is my greatest champion, the person that was there for me in victory as well as defeat. Mom never stopped believing in her kids and for me, the world will never be the same.
I was born on her birthday. I was her birthday baby. My birthday will never be quite the same now that she is gone.
Mama, I am so grateful that I was your son and you will always live in my heart. Travel well on the other side and say hi to my grandpa and all the other ones for me.
Until we meet again, I am going to continue to try to make you proud of me.
