Darling Dorothy

“Be bigger than your fears.”
Dorothy

Today  — December 20 — is her birthday; she passed away of pancreatic cancer in 2004. Since then, my beautiful sister Stephanie and I came up with the idea of getting together to celebrate her birthday by going to a cozy restaurant in Manhattan not far from where my mom lived for lunch. We hoist a glass — either a gin & tonic or a Bloody Mary, depending on how we feel. My mom was a gin & tonic gal, but she also enjoyed a good Bloody Mary now and then.

As I sit here writing this, feeling sad and missing my mom, I’m surrounded by reminders of her. They’re all over my office. There’s a beautiful picture of her when she was young on my desk and other pictures of her holding my son Alex when he was little. She adored him and he felt the same about her. “Dot, I need you!” he would call out when he wanted help with a button or tying his shoes.

I also have all sorts of knickknacks from my mom’s apartment — a silver wizard standing atop a huge amethyst stone is my favorite. Nestled by it I have a Fortune cookie slip that says: “You should be able to undertake and complete anything.” The two are perfect together, because my mom really believed that about the people she loved. She believed that we could do anything we set our minds to. Anything! Whenever I was discouraged about my writing, I could call her up and she’d give me a pep talk. She was always in my corner. She had a tough life in many ways, but she was a Sagittarius and like the Archer, she was always outward bound and optimistic, young at heart and adventurous. “Be bigger than your fears,” she said to me once. Great advice for all of us. So today, in her honor, I’m passing it on. “I need you, Dot!” That’s what Alex used to say when he was little. So now, I’m saying it, too: “I need you, Dot!”

About karinwritesdangerously

I am a writer and this is a motivational blog designed to help both writers and aspiring writers to push to the next level. Key themes are peak performance, passion, overcoming writing roadblocks, juicing up your creativity, and the joys of writing.
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5 Responses to Darling Dorothy

  1. Well Dot sounds like one of those people who wear their wings on the inside. A lovely piece. My mom died on Christmas Eve in 2006. You have inspired me to write about her this Christmas.

    • Hi Ethel,

      Thanks so much for your lovely note. Wearing wings on the inside —

      what a beautiful way to describe my mom, Dorothy, definitely a

      hidden angel! Thank you, Ethel, for this wonderful image. I’m so

      glad my words about my mom have inspired you to share some

      thoughts about your own mom — that means so much to me.

      Write on, Karin

      ________________________________

  2. Karin Oops please edit my comment. 2006 and You

  3. Karin, you are so lucky to have had a loving mother, one you can remember with love and good memories.

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