Happy Mother's Day

So what does it mean to be a mother. For me it was and still is the most natural thing in the world to be a mother. I always wanted to have a child. I can still remember playing with my doll and pretending it was my baby. It's as natural to me as walking down the street. I love children and to have my own was and still is incredible.

And my child has given me what I think is the most precious thing a child can give their mother and that is a grandchild. It is hard to explain the feeling in your heart when you think about your grandchild. Or the incredible joy when she sees you and comes running into your arms. And that moment when she said out of the clear blue sky "Grandma I love you". It brings tears of joy to my eyes whenever I think of it.

And even today although my son is a grown man he is still my child and there isn't anything in the world I wouldn't do for him. If I had to give him my life I would, because it is just want a mother does.

Being a mother is about love, pure and simple. It is the most beautiful kind of love. It is a love that is given without strings. And along with that love comes a belief in your child that never waivers no matter what is happening.

I am a very lucky person. I had an incredible mother that I love and miss very much. She was among many things my theater partner. We saw many Broadway plays and musicals together. We often went to the ballet. We both loved the theater.

She was my friend. And sometimes when I take a walk down the country road I talk with her. She is in my heart. She taught me how to love by filling me with her love. She taught me how to believe in myself and to not be afraid.

And then there was my grandma. My grandma was just incredible. She was always there for me. She bought me my toes shoes when I was studying ballet. She bought me my clothes. I remember getting to the store on 14th street in New York (it was called Kleins) at 8:00 am so she could buy me this wonderful warm winter coat that was on sale at a very good price.

It gave me great joy to say here grandma hold your little great grandson. I was so happy that she lived long enough to see him and hold him.

She has been gone for more than 33 years but it still hurts. Grandma I love you and I miss you so much.

I am trying to be the same kind of grandma to my little princess and I hope that when she is a grown woman and looks back she will feel about me the way I feel about my grandma.

There is another mother I would like to talk about. Her name is Meta Karp. She is Tony's mother. She became my mother from the moment I meet her. She gave us an electric pot that first meeting and the presents never stopped. Whenever we needed money she was always there for us. She paid for camp and nursery school. She gave Tony the money to buy the lens so he could develop his computer controlled zoom. This was the lens that led to the nomination of an Academy Award for Technical Achievement.

She gave us the money to pay off the mortgage on our house which allowed us to be debt free. But she gave me something even more valuable. She loved me, crazy and crude as I am. I was her daughter and never her daughter-in-law. She taught me to accept life and the things that happen. She never complained, was never critical, she was just a mother who gave us her love pure and simple.

The last mother to celebrate is Cathy. She is my granddaughter's mother and my son's wife. Cathy is awesome. She is a doctor, incredibly beautiful and a fabulous, fabulous mother. She is an extraordinary role model for my granddaughter. A woman who has built and runs a solo practice in pediatrics, maintains a beautiful home, is an incredible cook, but first and foremost a mom. She is one of those super women who can do it all with incredible grace and charm and makes it look easy. I really, really admire and adore her.

Other mother's may not feel the same way as I do. Mothers come in all sizes and shapes and each is unique just as their children are unique. This is just what it is for me.

And so I wish all the wonderful mothers that I know and anyone who is reading this a Happy and Healthy Mother's Day.