Jersey Girl in Newport Beach
“So what’s a little diabetes?” Funny how much of an advocate I am for my beloved seniors throughout the community, one thing strikes me: my own mother, at 77 years, silver hair, wrinkles a plenty, never look at her as senior anything. Ever. Even with her health failing, aches, pains, diabetes, clogged arteries – because of who she was, who she IS, Connie Arrigo was truly ageless. Still reeling from her untimely death January 31st, 2012, I have yet to speak of her in past tense. It is too soon for that. Perhaps I’ll always refer to her in the present. Probably so.
For those who have lost a parent, I’m right there with ya. I’ve read that no matter what age one loses a parent, the loss is just as great, if only at different times in each life. Like there’s a convenient time for death to begin with, when it happens, expected or not, pretty much convinced life will never be the same.
In honor of my magnificent mother, a woman I aspire to be, her radiance, humor, love of life, brilliant mind, sweetest and loving of smiles, I share my thoughts with you. In a series of different blogs, it helps to write. Some paint, dance, sing, roller skate, surf, made YouTube videos. It’s all part of the healing process. And healing is what I’m experiencing. The pain, ever so present, overcomes me hearing a song, talking to a friend, making a salad. Grief, itself unexpected, envelops one like no other feeling. Connie, a lover of language herself, inspires me to speak with the eloquence she speaks. Here’s to you Mamma…let us share, together, our passions, insights, sarcasm, love and disappointments right here. Think this may just be another version of walking on the beach. See you there soon.
