Holidays can be Difficult.

Another year. Another Mother’s Day.

Seems like every year they get a bit harder.

All my kids are not together, which for me, is the hardest to deal with on a day like today.

To sit around a table with my children and grandchildren, all together, brings tears to my eyes as I’m writing this. Yes, it’s been quite a while.

Although I’ve lived such a full life; had many businesses, built a talent management company in the entertainment business, worked in full-time ministry in a New York church, and now traveling the country to bring hope and restoration to as many as we can touch…

…nothing takes the place of my family…happy and together.

Are there issues?

Of course. When you love hard, and you’re close, there are always little foxes that creep into our lives. But that’s okay. You love through those times and somehow, some way, God makes you even closer in the process.

Then there’s those who have passed on before us.

My mom. What a force to be reckoned with. She was a simple woman, who led a simple life, but managed to be a tornado around everyone… pulling you into her whirlwind with her. I miss her dearly. And days like this, remind me of her and her amazing cooking. I don’t think I know another woman who loved her family more than my mom. She sometimes had strange ways of showing it… but it was there… every minute of every day.

Many of you can relate I’m sure. Something about a mom.

My dad. What a character. Picture me, male, with a heavy Italian accent. Until this day I have a hard time watching myself on videos because I see him…his facial expressions…his loud, booming voice…his funny gestures that kept all of us entertained. He worked two or three jobs for most of his life and had an upholstery business on the side. He became a United States citizen and cherished this country and all it stood for. Every voting season he worked tirelessly at the polls as a Constable to ensure everyone got to vote. He stood for what was right and good and the fight I have, I owe to him.

Yes. Today I miss my dad. If you aren’t with yours, or he has passed on, I know you miss yours as well.

Although there are so many who have passed from this earth, and so many that I miss… aunts, uncles, cousins, friends…

I would be amiss if I didn’t mention my sister, Louise.

One of a kind. My protector. My friend. Loved deeply. Hurt deeply. Loved God more than anyone I have ever known. She was a comedienne. She was a fighter. And she fought the cancer that eventually took her life…way too young.

That void is hard to fill. Thank God, He’s put a few women in my life who are doing a good job of filling that emptiness. I’m sure they know who they are, and I thank Him for them, daily.

So this morning I had thoughts that we all have from time to time… especially on holidays.

Where did the years go? How did I get here?

We all think that. And those thoughts usually begin to creep in as the children leave home. Something about an empty nest stirs memories.

We are here for only a brief moment in eternity. Yes, your spirit lives forever, but our bodies age, daily. And that can be difficult to watch the ravages of time affect how we feel and how we look.

But this is what I’ve come to realize and now fills my spirit…

If we look at each day as a gift… as a potential miracle… as I chance to live to our fullest… we will stop looking back in regret or hopelessness. We will learn to understand, that in every season of life, there are new discoveries, new adventures, and something new to explore and learn.