When I was young I literally could not breathe without her. She was my everything. I remember being in the back seat of our car. I’d reach my hand over the front seat and say, “Momma, hold my hand.” You see. The back seat of the car felt like miles away from her.
It sure wasn’t hard to love her. She was unbelievable: accomplished, a woman ahead of her time, beautiful, smart, talented and loving.
Soon you will get to know her better as I reveal more of this woman. Today though in honor of Mother’s Day, the above video is of her rehearsing at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.
Even when she couldn't see the music, it was still there for her.
The power of the brain is phenomenal — all those eight-hour days spent practicing and memorizing as a young lady at the Conservatory in Brazil would pay off later on in her life. She would become blind due to macular degeneration and suffer memory loss due to dementia but both conditions never stopped her from sharing what little breath of her repertoire that still remained. It was a precious gift — the opportunity to enjoy beautiful music together.
A beautiful moment from my mother's life