To All the Mamas I Have Ever Known and ALL the Mamas in My Life



I wanted to talk about Mama’s Day today in a way that celebrates all the “moms” in my life that is special to me. I am very lucky in that I, not only have an amazing mother, but an amazing grandma, two amazing great grandmas (we have great young genes) and other “moms” that have latched on through love to enjoy watching me grow as a woman.

My mother, who most would think looks like my sister, is probably the most selfless person I know. She is the type to stay up late, even when she has had a long day, to help someone prepare for a job interview, or council them on their careers, or offer business advice. She is the type to offer up her airline miles so a friend and me could take a vacation (Aruba is next mama!). She will help out anyone in need, not just her children but those she loves. While sometimes my mom and I butt heads because sometimes she forgets to not look at me as a baby anymore, for the most part, as long as we are not living together, we have a great relationship. She deserves a medal just for putting up with me when I was a child and a teenager. I was the devil spawn and she still managed to love me unconditionally. My mom has taught me a good work ethic, and that it is possible to be a good mother and have a career.


My grandma, who remains as beautiful and striking today as she was when she was my age, knows how to age gracefully. While she can no longer run the 10 miles a day that she used to, she still manages to do an hour of cardio and a couple hours of tennis multiple times a week. She has taught me what it means to cherish being a woman. She has taught me that you can be strong and yet feminine and the two go hand in hand. She has survived extreme poverty, lost jobs, the Bronx, miscarriages, still borns and fires. She and my grandfather are the perfect example of the American Dream. She helped and him build a life from a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx to a life style that most dream about. And yet, even when a fire took away everything they had ever worked for, they managed to not even skip a beat. She is the strongest woman I know and she shows me what real love should look like. (Her and my grandpa still blow each other kisses) She was also the first person to point out and celebrate my bubble butt when I was a toddler. She used to kiss the damn thing saying, “Look at that tushy! Look at that tushy!” (I have a good memory Gram Gram I know you are reading this)

I could go on and on about all my “moms’ but I think it might just bore you all to tears. Instead I will leave you all with bits of advice that I have gotten throughout the years from my all the women in my life.

On Life

“Make your passion your career. Not the other way around.” - Mama

“ Never stop dancing, even if you stop, never stop it in your heart. Because, if you look for it, when your soul dances, so does the world.” – Dede – my dance teacher for life and second mom forever

“Never go to bed angry at anyone ever.” – mama again

“ You gotta be confident. It is the key to everything.” – Yvette
You gotta have fun with life always, laugh at it, enjoy It.” – Tracy

“Don’t fall into the trap of doing a job because you think it is what you are supposed to do. Follow your dream job. Break out of the mold. Use your talents,” – Mama


On Men

“Darling you deserve a prince and nothing less than a prince will do” – Great Grandma Bertha

“ I had the choice between your grandfather and Richie Davis. Your grandfather shared more interests with me and we could just sit and talk about them for hours.” - Gram Gram (OF course, if you ask my grandpa why he married my grandma he says, “Because I wanted to jump her bones” -

“Marry a man who gives you the best orgasms if your life. Because even if you have a fight, you can forget about it for a while. It will carry you through the tough times as well.” – My Guardian Angel.

“I told him he could kiss me but we can’t go any further because it might kill him.” – My 93 year old Great Grandma talking about her new boyfriend.

“Life takes some shitty roads sometimes so make sure to find a man strong enough to take them with you” Gram Gram

“When your dad asked me on a date his divorce was not even final yet so I said no. Then he asked again and I said no because he had been playing the entire building. So he asked again and I caved in. We had chemistry, guess you can’t ignore that.” - My mom when talking to me about why she went out with my dad when she was age 20 (he was 27)


On being a woman

“ Trying to act like a man does not make you equal. It makes you look like you feel being a woman is inferior and therefore you act like a man. Celebrate being a woman and that gives you power. God created both sexes because he needs both sexes” Gram Gram

“Always maintain your girly figure. You will thank yourself when you are older.” – My mom


So to Mom, Gram Grams, Great Grandma Bertha, Great Grandma Lisa, Tracy, Yvette, Dede, Marian, and all the other MOMs I have met in my life, including Pamela, and “Mom” and Marsha and Terri and Nola and Sheri and Mrs. B, and Mrs. A, and well all of you. The world is nothing without moms and every single mom I have ever met has given me a good example of what kind of mom I want to be someday. And to all the mom's in the world - you keep the earth together :)