To the Editor,

Like a lot of folks my age, Mother’s Day is a complicated time. It marks the loss of the person who was always in your corner. No matter how tough the opponent was or how badly beaten emotionally or physically, she had always been there to apply ointments or prepare a bowl of chicken soup. In my case, it was the anniversary of her 2007 surgery, which her strong will carried through all almost dying in the operating room, the way my father had in 2004, three years earlier. Only to lose her two months later to cancer.

I traveled to Walmart on Sunday Morning, witnessing shoppers picking bouquets of beautiful flowers for somebody’s mother. It made me think about all the mistakes a person makes when they live in a community as a family. Jenny says, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” in the 1970 film Love Story.

As this Mother’s Day unfolded, I knew she was watching down on me from heaven. She would not want my tears; she often let it be known that she was strong. Hers was unconditional love, no matter how strong the storms of life, howling north winds, and much trouble my siblings and I managed to get ourselves in, she and my father stood by to right the sinking ship.

I honored my mother’s memory by dressing to the nines, taking my seat in Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh when the performance had concluded, as I stood on Penn Ave, Pirates fans passed by one young man with a Graduation Tassel on his baseball cap, another quizzed me as she made her way to their car with her family in the Cultural District of Downtown, “What show did you see? “Deep in thought about my mother’s time in the operating room

I hesitated, I could not remember as she walked away, I sort of spoke to her in desperation, “Clouds in My Coffee. ”

You see, mother and father shared a cup of coffee each morning as their children made themselves scarce; it was their special time together.

I placed my ticket stub and program in a special place upon my return home. Maybe there was a ghost in the theatre, just maybe?

Michael Traubert

Wellsburg