Mother’s Day Toast

Yesterday, I toasted to life.

L.I.F.E. with about a thousand exclamation points after it!

It was Mother’s Day and I was with my mom and my sister Diana and we indulged in a wonderful brunch at One Pico, a lovely restaurant/hotel right on the beach of Santa Monica.

We spent a leisurely morning at home eating bagels and strawberries and enjoying the fact that it was Mother’s Day. I was sad not to be with my boys but had the chance to talk to them on the phone. Hearing the “Happy Mama’s Day” from each of them pulled at my heart strings and made me long to be home. But, of all the years and of all the reasons why I wouldn’t be with them, this was the year to be right where I was. With my mom.

She looked absolutely beautiful and loved every minute of the afternoon. We ate AMAZING food. Cream of corn soup with crab, shrimp on a bed of greens, fillet mignon, peach cobbler a la mode and blueberry sorbet topped with lemon zest. We drank sparkling water and of course, toasted to life and the years ahead with a glass of champagne.

I never would have thought 6 months ago that I would have been celebrating Mother’s Day like that. To find that her cancer is under control and that she has years to live was the best present she could have asked for. It’s strange now, at home, without her being her. Today was the first day without Grandma and she is definitely missed.

I am thankful for the time that she was here and for the time that she was able to spend with the boys.

I toast to mom. I toast to my sister, to my mother and sisters-in-law and to Rebecca. I toast to all of the amazing mothers that I am blessed to know and call a friend and I toast to all of the mothers in the world. Each and every one.

I toast to life.