The Magic of MomBy Susan Bush
12:00AM / Thursday, May 05, 2005
 | | Cynthia Lamore and her daughter Jessica Bugbee |
Jessica Bugbee can’t be certain just how Sunday’s Mother’s Day holiday will unfold. The Readsboro, Vt. mother of 4-year-old Matthew Bugbee is expecting a second child any day. A Mother’s Day delivery isn’t out of the question.
There’s anticipation about the pending birth and constant awe about life as a “mom,†Bugbee said.
“I still find it amazing that I brought new life into this world, and someday I will send him out into the world,†she said of her son. “I am his mother every day and every day I get to watch him change a little more.â€
Francine Klein |
For Williamstown resident Francine Klein, this Mother’s Day is expected to be extra-special. Her mother Marie Figueroa recently moved to the St. Joseph’s Court living complex in North Adams from Long Island, N.Y..
“ I’m glad she’s here, really, really glad,†said Klein. “We’re still making memories. At this point in my life, I can truly say that every moment I spend with my mother is special.â€
Working Moms
Bugbee and her mother Cynthia Lamore of Stamford, Vt. enjoy emotional and physical closeness; Lamore is Bugbee’s employer at DiLego’s Jewelers. Bugbee began working part-time at the store as a high school student and has been a full-time employee for the past six years.
“The best part of my job is that I get to see my mother every day,†said Bugbee.
Mother and daughter ‘fessed up to occasional disagreements over the years, but both agreed that their mother-daughter relationship is a treasured part of their lives.
“There were those little spats that reared their heads during the teen-age years,†said Lamore. “But they were few and far between and the personal issues were left at home. Now it’s a lot of fun to work together. I get all the updates on what Matthew [Lamore’s grandson] has done, updates from the homefront. My husband is jealous because I get to see her every day. And customers remark about how lucky we are to be together every day. It makes you realize that it is a privilege.â€
Lamore is a wonderful parenting resource, Bugbee said.
“Like when I’m trying to put Matthew to bed, I try some of the little games she played with me when I was little,†Bugbee said. “And it’s funny to watch her with Matthew. She’ll let him get way with things she never would have let my brother or me get way with. I’ll say something about that sometimes, and she just gives me this look.â€
Lamore may be offering more maternal anecdotes; her son Jeffrey Lamore and his fiancée Liz Hubby recently welcomed infant daughter Izabella Marie into the family fold.
“This is a bountiful Mother’s Day for me,†said Lamore. “ I am blessed with children and grandchildren.â€
Missing Mom’s Smile
North Adams resident Dianne Blair is a mother of two children who finds Mother’s Day a bit bittersweet. Blair’s mother died from Alzheimer’s disease, and the loss is always present, Blair said.
“What’s hard for me is that my mother had Alzheimer’s, so she was gone before she was gone,†Blair said. “It’s such a horrible 
Dianne Blair |
illness…..â€
Eyes brimmed with tears, Blair described her longing for her mother’s smile during care center visits.
“With my mother, just to see that smile was enough,†she said.
Blair’s brother resembles her father, and on certain holidays, Blair said she would accompany her brother on visits. His familiar countenance inspired the one gift Blair treasured: a comforting smile.
“She’d see him and she’d smile, and that would be enough for me,†Blair said. “Her smile was everything.â€
It’s the simple things that make Mother’s Day special, Blair said.
“I tell my kids that I don’t expect a present. But I do expect a hug.â€
Mom Across the Miles
North Adams resident Tammy St. Pierre’s mother has lived in Kentucky for the past 15 years. The many miles can’t erode the bond St.Pierre shares with her mother, she said.
“I talk to my mom just about every day,†she said. “She’s my mom! I call her when I’m not feeling well and I say ‘Mommy, I’m sick.’ And she’ll say ‘what you need is a hot toddy. Can you get moonshine?’ And I say ‘no, Mom, this is Massachusetts.’ â€
Telephone calls aren’t always enough, however. St. Pierre said that she experienced a serious health scare recently and “that broke my mother up, not being here.â€
St.Pierre said she travels yearly to Kentucky to visit her mother, and her maternal grandmother, who also lives in Kentucky.
“My mom and I were always close,†she said. “There’s not one specific thing, it’s that she’s always been there. Even in high school, if there was a break-up with a boyfriend, it was my mother, not a best friend, who was there when I cried.â€
Tammy St.Pierre |
Her own three children are 13, 11, and 6, and St.Pierre said she knows that changes in the mother-child dynamic are ahead.
“My favorite part about being a mother is bedtime hugs,†she said. “And I’m not going to have that very much longer, I know. I treasure it now, I really do.â€
Whether the hand that rocks the cradle actually rules the world could likely be debated, but according to Klein, a mother’s love does rule the heart.
“There are no individual memories, it all just meshes together,†she said. “That’s what is so special. There are no stops and gaps with a mother’s love. It’s always there.â€
Susan Bush may be reached at 802-823-9367 or by email at suebush123@adelphia.net. |
