For Our Moms...

I got a very unexpected surprise for Mother's Day. My BFF Barbara sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers. At first I couldn't imagine why Barb was sending me flowers on Mother's Day. Yes, I have a child, but so does she - two, matter of fact, Tom and Laura. Then I read the card, "Happy Mother's Day and in honor of our moms. Love, Barb"

Barb's mom passed away last September and I spent three of the best days of our friendship with her at her mom's apartment as she prepared for the funeral. It was where I wanted to be, to do what I could to help her the same way she helped me when my mother was dying several years ago.

We've been friends for over 40 years and I consider her my best friend. I think of her often, don't call often enough, and wish we could be closer geographically so we could see each other more often. As the fates would have it, we've never lived close together since we graduated from high school.

Both of our mothers were exceptional women. In many ways they both were a bit non-traditional for women who married and started to raise families in the 1950's. Neither of our moms were the traditional 'June Cleaver' or 'Donna Reed' types. Both our mothers worked outside the home, both were women in their own right - not just our father's wives or the mother's of their children. They saw and understood the need for a woman to have her own identity, to have her own interests and to create their own happiness instead of relying on someone else to make them happy. Neither Joan Scandurra or Zada Kenzie were perfect, but they were our teachers, our inspiration, our comfort and our much loved mothers and we miss them everyday. So to Joan and Zada - Happy Mother's Day from Barbara and Donna