A few stories about Mom. The first Christmas I dated Norma, I went to their apartment on Christmas Eve. I had the day off, but Norma was working till midday, so I got to their apartment with my gifts to spend Christmas Eve with her. Mom was alone in the apartment it was around noon and nobody was home yet. As always, she wanted to make me feel comfortable until Norma arrived… and she wanted to feed me. She gave me a sandwich and a cup of tea. We talked for a few minutes…probably one of the longest conversations I had with Mom alone. It was a special moment, brief as it was. It’s still vivid in my mind as if it happened yesterday. Another story was related to me years later by Norma. Her parents kept their car in a private parking lot near their building. There was a watch dog in the next yard, steele-fenced off, with a snarling dog who would give them the business while they were going into their car. Norma told me one day, as always, the dog was barking and snarling. So, Mom reached into her pocketbook and gave something to the dog to eat….from then on whenever they got the car and Mom was with them, the dog would stop snarling, a friendly wagging tail. It was her way: simple, but special. Years later when I worked as a UPS drivers assistant, we would encounter mean dogs, which I befriended the way Mom did. I always felt welcomed whenever I came to visit. She called me son and made me feel like a part of her own family. Thanks Mom! I will miss you dearly. Love your son, George