By Bob Kueppers
The other day I stumbled across a website that really got to me that asked the reader to submit the greatest gift their mother ever gave them. I’m very fortunate to have my mother with me as many of my friends have lost a parent. Life always seems to get in the way and I never have really told my mother how much she means to me (other then the standard “I love you”). When I read some excerpts from the story, I felt compelled to let my mother know what her greatest gift to me has been. I hear a lot of stories from our clients whose parents are in a nursing home and suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s and it makes me think that you can never know what the future will hold and how important it is to make time for a loved one no mater how hectic life may get. So with that I share with you what I wrote my mother and some of the excerpts others have wrote theirs.
I wanted you to know the greatest gift you ever gave me was a sense of humor. Looking back on my childhood, the thing that really stands out is how much you made me laugh. I never realized it till now but all my close friends have to meet the requirement of making me laugh otherwise I don’t want them around. As I move through life and things change, it’s the one thing about myself that will always remain consistent and I’m so grateful for it. Even though we don’t talk all the time and sometimes weeks go by with out contacting you, each time I laugh, you’re with me.
-Bob Kueppers
My mother’s greatest gift came after she was gone. She used a certain perfume that was her signature fragrance, and she hoarded bottles of it, since it was difficult to find. When she was down to her last two, she refused to use it anymore. I begged her to just enjoy it, but she didn’t listen. When she passed away, we found the two bottles of perfume. She probably intended to leave one for me and one for my sister. Now, every time I smell that scent, Mom is with me.
Ellen Ogintz
Monroe Township, New Jersey
Memories. My mother now suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is mentally and physically incapacitated. I am so grateful for the simple but meaningful times we shared when I was growing up, from making cupcakes for my father’s birthday when I was five to playing dress-up in her too-big clothes and donning her frosted, 1970s wigs. Every little detail that is stamped in my memory helps me smile and appreciate the incredible mother she is and the life she gave me.
Jennifer Kopec-McLaughlin
Mountain Top, Pennsylvania
Her laugh. My mother and I have the same big, boisterous laugh that people can hear rooms away. There’s no mistaking whether or not we think something is funny, and it has gotten me in trouble more than once. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Katy Kreider
Greenville, North Carolina
