The beautiful woman in these photos is my mom, Mary Van Zandt. She passed away peacefully in her own home early this morning at age 85, surrounded by most of her nine children and a few of her many grandchildren. One of those grandchildren is my daughter, Vanessa. Today is her 16th birthday. Thats her with my mom in the third photo. Needless to say, I am heartbroken beyond words, but also comforted in the fact she knew that me and my family, my siblings and all who were lucky enough to know her...absolutely adored her. The most selfless person Ive ever known, and naturally funnier than I could ever dream of being. Many of my own friends (and those of my brothers and sisters) came to call her mom or ma as her own children called her. That says a lot about the women. She lived to nurture and befriend all she came in contact with, whether she knew you for a lifetime, or she simply came across you in a supermarket checkout line. An amazing cook, homemaker, a gifted artist* with an unwavering love of God...moms talents were many and her love of life, contagious. She was never, ever the center of attention because of ego, but rather always because the people around her were so drawn to her warmth, her ready laugh, and her unwavering interest in YOU and what was going on in YOUR life. Mary Van Zandt was not only my mother but also my hero, and I will miss her terribly. *The homemade Halloween costumes my mom made for all of her children were legendary. Back when I was about 12 or 13 years old, she thought that, because of my tall height, The Jolly Green Giant would be the perfect character for me to be at the annual American Legion Hall costume contest in East Greenbush. She crafted a one-piece, green felt caveman style outfit for me to wear as a base for the hundreds of green paper leaves she then carefully stitched into it one by one. She made a pair of elf-style shoes, a leafy headpiece, and even made a giant, stuffed toy green bean that I carried around with me - just like the real deal. So far, so good. Moving on to making my entire body green, she decided on using dozens of jars of undiluted green food coloring that she thoroughly rubbed into my pasty-white skin from head to toe. Her costume blew away the judges and the competition at that Halloween contest, and I won first prize...but the price was a heavy one. That night, as I attempted to wash away the green tint from my skin in the bathtub, it quickly became apparent that its called FOOD coloring and not SKIN coloring for good reason. For the next few weeks I went to school with a humiliating light-green glow emitting from my face and arms, until it eventually faded away. She loved to tell that story, and the two of us laughed about it all over again only a few weeks ago, as Halloween is approaching. Her other children and her friends have dozens of stories like that to cherish for the rest of thier own lives, and we are all thankful for that. Unlike that green food coloring on my skin so many years ago, my deep love for my amazing mom will never fade away. Rest in peace, ma.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:12:36 +0000
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