When I look in the mirror, and uncap the lipstick,
carefully applying the bright red to my lips,
I picture my mother looking back at me.
She was not one to fuss with makeup,
but always applied her lipstick with care.
Even as she faded with age, her lips blazed.
And I, who always wore muted colored gloss if anything,
now boldly wear true red in honor of my mother,
shining my light for the world to see.
Category: Cherished Memories
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Memories of Mom’s Red Lipstick
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If I Could Dog-Ear a Day
Title inspired by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
I’d mark the days when it was just the three of us,
sitting around the glass-top table in your cozy Florida kitchen.
Although one of five children,
for those times, I was your only child,
soaking up the sweetness of having you two all to myself.
The click, click, click of the cards as we shuffled the deck
for the many games of rummy we’d play.
Sharing stories of your life, often heard, but always enjoyed.
Mom, always bragging about being the
rummy champion on Center Street as a child,
was never a graceful loser but was always ready to start anew.
Dad holding onto his cards to get the most points in a play,
even if it meant losing big if one of us played the last card first.
These simple everyday moments are treasures
I hold onto when I miss you the most. -
Extraordinary Power of Everyday Moments
For Mike
Because love is about the small everyday moments that we share,
the pain of your absence was especially severe in
the early minutes, hours, days, months and years after you died.
The song you wrote that first captured my heart.
How I fit so neatly into your embrace,
especially in the mornings when we met in the kitchen for breakfast.
The way that you shaved my legs when my pregnant
belly made that task an impossibility.
Your words of encouragement when I’d try something new,
believing in me when I didn’t have faith in myself.
How we were partners in running the house,
each bringing our special talents so no one carried all the weight.
You were my companion in parenting our kids,
never shying away from dirty diapers or vomiting children.
Even wringing out the cloth diapers that had been soaking
in bleach before putting them in the wash.
Being my person to run things by, even if I knew what I wanted to do.
It was nice not to have to make every decision alone.
The way that only you could wash the laundry,
so that the clothes felt just right.
Going to concerts together.
Quiet evenings at home watching our favorite shows.
The sense of humor and inside jokes we shared.
The list goes on of these extraordinary ordinary moments
that I miss so much about you.
Beautiful Bittersweet Life Poems 