Ah, Sunny

 So today is Mother's Day, and as I, using my typical maudlin sense of humor reminded my family at Friday's early MD dinner, I'm the only one our family ain't got no mother.

We had a lovely time -- D1 picked out a place called Tigre, right near her house. We fetched D2 and spent some great time with the Little Man, and then Joey came home and we all lit the shabbat candles, before we watched him go into full very smart toddler mode and begin his negotiation for more play time before bed time. He is precious.

Tigre sits on the Little River, and is a gorgeous setting. The food was good, but the "for 2 to share short rib" was for 2 super models to share -- and Joey and I are no supermodels. I contrasted the portion with an enormous steak we shared at Cafe Royale in NOLA years ago -- now THAT was manly beef! Still, the mothers in our group enjoyed the evening, as we did. 

But no Sunny is around -- and hasn't given me a living Mom to celebrate for MD since 2013. Wow. 9 years as an orphan for me.

When Dad was alive, and we would discuss MD plans, he'd sing an old TV jingle from the 50s "Every Day is Mother's Day for Me." And it was -- we treated Sunny like the queen she was.

The Ds' memories of their Grandma are all pleasant -- she was already quite old, but always loving and gentle with them. I'm so glad they got to know her. D1 finds it endlessly amusing how clearly my charming passive agressivity is so clearly from her. It was never "I'm hungry," but rather "Ok -- who wants me to treat them to Fuddruckers?"

Paul reminded me of a great MD story from either the late 90s or early aughts. Wifey was working three days per week as a marketing director for an Ecuadorian flower company, and Paul asked if we might get roses directly from them. We could, and so drove to her company in Doral to fetch a case -- I think it had 2 dozen roses, all bundled up and fresh from the cooler. We put it in the trunk of my Jaguar, and drove towards the office, when we came upon an attractive young woman with a broken down Mercedes. We pulled over to help.

It was a well known local news reporter, Michelle Gillen. She was all aflutter -- she needed to be at the station for the noon broadcast. We offered her a ride, and while at first she had Ted Bundy fears, she got in. Paul and I were dressed in our expensive lawyer suits, and she took a chance, and I drove her to the station. We chatted happily. We arrived, and she got out, but I said "Just a minute, ma'am," and opened the trunk and gave her a dozen roses."

She went into reporter mode: "So let me get this straight. Two good looking guys in a Jaguar cruise Miami, looking to aid damsels in distress, and then send them off with beautiful roses?" "Yes, ma'am, that's who we are and what we do." She laughed, and gave the then single Paul her card and asked him to call her. Unfortunately, back then he didn't date damsels so close to his own age, and never called her.

We arrived at the office, and put our young staff to work -- arranging the flowers into vases. The lunchroom looked like the back of a floral shop. Our man Uncle Lou was in town, and we hired him to deliver the flowers all over town -- to secretaries we worked with, female staffers at referral firms, etc. 

But Lou's first stops were in Palm Beach County -- Paul's Mom Lillian, and my Mom Sunny each got 2 dozen roses, for MD. And Sunny had Lou in and made him one of her signature tuna sandwiches. It was lovely all around.

Lillian and Sunny are both now long passed. And Michelle Gillen, the reporter, died last year at 66 -- never having married, I think.

But my thoughts today are on Sunny. I am so blessed to have had her. I can't imagine, or actually I can, how tough it must be to have had a mother you couldn't stand. We all know the cliche about women with Daddy issues. Probably a man with mommy issues is MORE screwed up -- he has the ability to truly make his life partners miserable.

So if there's an afterlife, I hope Sunny is soaring in it today and for all eternity. She always made me feel so loved; so important. And today is her day -- even though it's in the Great Beyond.