Remembering "Mama"

Eleven years to this day, my mentor, my friend, my teacher and my most cherish possession died at the age of 78. My grandmother was the bedrock of the family. She was a formidable matriarch, an entrepreneur, a socialite involved not only in church but in many civic organizations. She practically raised me from birth and over the years she passed all her knowledge at the time in the beauty pageant business on to me. She was my initial teacher from the age of four in instructing me on the “hows” of producing an event. The planning, the organization, marketing, networking and people skills that I possess today are all credits to her. Today, I celebrate her memory and the impact she made on my life. I miss her dearly and her legacy lives on not only through me but through so many lives she touched. From the union of my granparents both deceased our family is now in its fifth generation. Many will never know her intimately like I do, they will only hear of the tales (of which there are many) passed down by the older generations. Your legacy lives on “Mama”.

In her obituary, I wrote this:

“Today our walls of Jericho have tumbled down.
It is over for Mama, but from this moment on
There will always be fond memories for us.
This is no dream – only reality –
Mama our Matriarch will be no more.” -- DA

Death is inevitable. What continues to elude us about death is the time – the when? Enjoy the people that our dear to you and cherish the fact that you have someone to love and to love you.