Sunday, May 9, 2010



happy mother's day!

lots of good wishes,
littlemarymixup

LOVE THAT PINK!


MOM'S COLOR THAT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE...JUST LIKE MOM!  I LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF LIPSTICK A AN EARLY AGE!  MOM USED TO SAY,"WELL, I JUST THOUGHT IF I HAD MY  LIPSTICK ON, IT WOULD BE NICER FOR DADDY TO SEE ME IN THE MORNING!"  AND THAT'S HOW IT WAS...FOREVER AND EVER...AMEN!

LOVE THAT PINK BY REVLON FOREVER AND EVER AMEN.

TIL THE END....

NOT KIDDING!

WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I WAS BORN INTO AN IRISH CATHOLIC FAMILY! MY MOM TOOK THAT SERIOUSLY. WEDDINGS, WAKES AND FUNERALS....THAT'S US!  WEDDINGS, WAKES AND FUNERALS WERE A HIGHLIGHT OF LIFE!  FAMILY GET TOGETHERS AND ALWAYS A CELEBRATION! 

WEDDINGS! CHECK!
WAKES!         CHECK!
FUNERALS!   CHECK!

SO, THAT'S WHY I WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS LITTLEMARYMIXUP STORY....I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW MUCH I MISS MY MOM AND WISH SHE WAS HERE THIS MORNING HAVING DONUTS AND COFFEE!

ACTUALLY, MOM WOULD LOVE THIS STORY AND I THINK THAT SHE'D BE PROUD OF ME....BECAUSE I LOVED HER SO MUCH THAT I DID THE RIGHT THING!  EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A TAD UNCOMFORTABLE TO TAKE CARE OF AND UNCONVENTIONAL FOR A WAKE...FOR MY OWN MOM!

IT WAS JUST 2 YEARS AGO.  ALTHOUGH IT WAS THE SADDEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE HAPPIEST OF TIMES!  IT WAS AN IRISH WAKE...AND ALL OF OUR OLDEST FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO LOVED MOM SO MUCH WERE THERE!  THE ROOM WAS FILLED WITH LOVE AND MEMORIES AND GREAT STORIES AND LAUGHS AND TEARS AND SWEETNESS.  I FELT LIKE MOM SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE TOO!

WAIT, SHE WAS!  IN SPIRIT AND IN BODY...OPEN CASKET IRISH.  I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT CATHOLICS WERE SO INTO THAT.  I UNDERSTAND THAT IN THE OLD DAYS IN IRELAND, THEY HAD THE LOVED ONE IN THE LIVING ROOM AND WHEN THE DRINKS WERE POURING AND THE MEMORIES WERE ROARING, THERE WAS DANCING AND SINGING AND FUN.  IT GOT SO CRAZY THAT THEY HAD TO STAND THE BODY AGAINST THE WALL TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE DANCING!


IN THE LAST 10 YEARS OF MOM'S LIFE, WHEN BIFF ASKED MOM HOW SHE WAS, SHE WOULD SAY, "OH, I'M ALWAYS TROTTIN' UP TO FAIRCHILD'S THESE DAYS!"  THAT WAS TRUE.  FAIRCHILD'S WAS THE LOCAL FUNERAL HOME WHERE EVERYBODY WHO IS ANYBODY GOES....EVENTUALLY!  MOM AND HER FRIENDS WOULD COME BACK AFTER AN "EVENT" AND THEY'D SAY, "OH, SHE LOOKED BEAUTIFUL...THEY DID SUCH A GREAT JOB!  JUST LOVELY."


IT WAS MOM'S MOMENT!  I HATED THAT PART.  I APPROACHED THE OPEN CASKET WITH BIFF AND THE KIDS.... TO KNEEL DOWN AND SAY A PRAYER.  AS WE WERE KNEELING, IN THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT OF MY LIFE, AND WHILE I WAS BEGINNING TO TEAR UP, AT THAT MOMENT....I REALIZED SOMETHING THAT MOM WOULD NEVER HAVE ALLOWED...........HER LIPSTICK WAS THE WRONG COLOR!  AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, HER INFAMOUS STYLE WAS LACKING.....HER ST. JOHN KNIT THAT SHE HAD SAVED FOR A BIG EVENT....THIS ONE....LOVELY AS THAT WAS......SHE HAD NO PEARLS AND JEWELS THAT WAS HER TRADEMARK!
SHE WOULD HAVE DIED!

THAT WAS WHEN MY SISTERLIKE FRIEND FROM COLLEGE ARRIVED.  SHE WAS THERE TO SAY A PRAYER....SHE WANTED ME TO BE THERE WITH HER....OF COURSE.

WHILE WE WERE UP "WITH MOM," PATSY AND I TALKED...OF COURSE, WE TALKED ABOUT HER STYLE...AND THE TROUBLE WITH HER ACCESSORIES AND EVEN WORSE!  HER LIPSTICK WAS MORE LIKE MOVIE QUEEN MAUVE RATHER THAN "LOVE THAT PINK!"

JUST THEN, MY FABULOUS SISTER IN LAW, CARY, MOTIONED TO ME....SHE HAD THE JEWELRY.  PATSY WENT OVER TO CARY AND GRABBED THE "INSTANT STYLE"......PATSY AND I WHISPERED AND MADE OUR PLAN....WE HAD TO.... WE RIGGED AND JIMMIED AND ADJUSTED AND PLACED HER JEWELRY AND HID ALL OF THE CLASPS.....WE HAD TO BE DISCREET....PEOPLE WERE THERE...TO "VISIT"......

WE GOT HYSTERICAL...WE HAD TEARS IN OUR EYES...APPROPRIATE MAYBE, BUT THE TEARS WEREN'T FOR SADNESS...WE HAD THAT KIND OF NERVOUS LAUGHTER THAT WE'VE HAD  IN CHURCH FOREVER.....SHAKING AND LAUGHING....LAUGHING AND SHAKING!   JUST LIKE MARY TYLER MOORE WHEN CHUCKLES THE CLOWN DIED!  TAKE A SECOND TO ENJOY THIS YOU TUBE VIDEO....MY MOM AND I LOVED IT!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwC361O13gk



WE DID IT.  LIPSTICK WAS NOT SOMETHING I WOULD ATTEMPT....DEAD OR ALIVE.....I WAS ABLE TO SPEAK TO THE WOMAN IN CHARGE....WITHIN MINUTES, LOVE THAT PINK WAS ON! WE WERE READY FOR THE PARTY. LIPSTICK AND PEARLS.  CHECK.





ON THAT NOTE, THERE WE WERE...ONE LAST "PARTY" FOR MOM!  O.K. THAT'S AN EXAGGERATION!  IT WASN'T THAT FESTIVE.  JUST KIND OF FESTIVE....TALKING AND TELLING STORIES AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS.


MOM WAS DRESSED FOR HER PARTY!  BEST OF ALL, SHE HAD HER LIPSTICK ON...LOVE THAT PINK! SHE WENT OUT IN HER STYLE!  SHE HAD ON HER LIPSTICK....FOR DAD!!

STILL....TO THIS DAY.....PATSY AND CARY AND I HAVE OUR LITTLE SECRET....WE DID IT FOR MOM!  AND FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS...WHO WOULD GO HOME WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND SAY, "SHE LOOKED LOVELY, DIDN'T SHE!"



AND OF COURSE, "FITZGERALD", "FITZ" WAS NAMED AFTER MOM.....BECAUSE WE ALL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN....BESIDES FITZ WAS BEAUTIFUL......DAD ALWAYS CALLED MOM "FITZ"!  MOM GOT A KICK OUT OF IT!  IT'S IRONIC THAT FITZY THE DOG  ALWAYS GOES FOR MY LIPSTICK....REVLON, BURTS BEES, COVER GIRL, L'OREAL......LIKE MOM, SHE JUST LOVES HER LIPSTICK!