Happy Mother’s Day to my mom
Before I start playing piano, I introduce my mother to the audience. She briefly tells about her service in the Army in World War II, the death of her brother during that same war and the thrill of dancing in a show with Jimmy Durante in the early sixties. The audience is residents of a local nursing home. We put on our own show there once a month. I play tunes from the 40’s, 50’s and 60s and make lame jokes, while she dances in front of the group with her cane. My twenty-five year old son, Nick, said that our performance could go viral. It isn’t because we are that skilled, but because the audience enjoys it so much.
Mom is something. She has been enjoying celebrity status for the past decade because of her age; she’s 94 this month and is proud of her experiences in the military. She has been the Grand Marshal in a Veteran’s day parade, has been on television a few times, and it is really fun for me to see all the pictures of local politicians with her in the local media.
Most people who know her say, “Oh yes, I know Josephine the dancer.” She dances wherever there is music. On some on Mondays she can be seen jitter bugging at the casino in Schenectady when they have Young at Heart day for seniors. Once in a while, she dances at a bar/restaurant in the suburbs that has a popular local singer. She also dances at most events at the Italian Community Center.
She is pretty independent for her age. She lives in an apartment alone and drove until two years ago when two felons, my sister and I, took her car away. She is still mad about it and tells anyone about this terrible crime.
I have written about mom before, so I reached out to others who had known moms that are no longer with us. My wife, Kyra, wanted to mention an old friend of hers. “My friend, Krista, died last month, from cancer. My heart goes out to her husband, Dave. They went through some hard years, raising three children while she was being treated, the youngest now in high school. I wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, as I do believe she knows I’m thinking of her. I woke up the other day, feeling like she was nudging me to lighten up, and so many memories came flooding over me of all the fun we’d had. She lived life just the way she wanted to. I know her kids will have many great memories of their fun-loving mom to bolster them in years ahead. Our moms are always with us.”
Here are my friend Steve’s comments about his mother. “Of course, anyone who was especially close to their mother thinks theirs was the greatest ever. Mine has been gone for over five years now, yet the pain of her absence will still strike me deeply now and then out of nowhere. The word “nurturing” is always associated with motherhood, and it perfectly sums up her greatest gift. Whether it was one of her own nine children or anyone else in her presence, the focus of her genuine interest and love was always felt. Many of my friends (and those of my siblings) also called her ‘mom.’ She always loved hearing that. And proudly, so did I.”
I was trying to figure out how to end this column when I recalled lyrics of the Italian song, “Mama” sung by many great singers of the past. The part of the song that I selected goes like this, “Mama, safe in the glow of your love; nothing can ever replace the warmth of your tender embrace.” John Ostwald is professor emeritus of psychology at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. Email him at jrostwald33@gmail.com.