Today is the day

At first, the days pass slowly. Each one is harder to get through than the day before. Then those days become weeks and months. The sixth month is marked and I say, " I can't believe it's been this long." Finally, this day arrives. Today is the day. Today is one year since my mom died. I miss her everyday. I miss her 365 days worth of telephone conversations and outlandish things she would have said. I miss her 12 months worth of birthday cards signed in her fancy handwriting for myself and my children. I miss minute by minute the countless things neither I or my sister was aware she made happen and now those things go undone and unsaid.

My mother was an individual to say the least. She dressed to the nines whenever she could. She wore big hair until the day it fell out from the chemotherapy. She wore the reddest red lipstick she could find. She thought lipstick was as good as Prozac. "Put some lipstick on honey. You'll feel better." She spoke her mind no matter what the cost. She never backed down from a challenge and was more often than not labeled a "bitch" for it. She loved all her grandchildren as best she could. She even danced a couple of times a year when the opportunity presented itself. She made the best potato salad.

Yep. That was Ransy. She even had a unique name to top it all off. Today...this day...I honor her for who she was.

Ransy Marie Robicheaux Waguespack