Happy Birthday AND Happy Retirement, Mom!

Mom, Tristan, Daddy in San Francisco

Mom, Daddy, Tristan at Disneyland

Daddy and Mom at Andrea's Christening Whitman, MA

Mom and Daddy's 25th Anniversary Dorchester, MA

Tristan, Daddy and Mom at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena

Mom and Daddy's 25th Anniversary Dorchester, MA

Daddy and Mom Christmas on Franklin St, Braintree, MA

Thinking of my Mom today. She may kill me for posting some of these photos here, but to me they are the perfect representation of what life in my family was like: lots of love, family, good times and friends. Looking at them makes me smile (and in some cases, laugh out loud.)

Today marks a major milestone in my Mom's life: in exactly one hour and four minutes (as I write this), she will clock out of the Post Office in Quincy, Massachusetts for the last time. To say that she's been looking forward to this for some time now is an understatement. At the same time, to say that she's also not worried would be a lie. Retirement is a major life change and she knows it.

The last year without my Dad has been extremely difficult for all of us but especially for my Mom. My Dad was there (for all of us) in many ways that we never even thought of until after he was gone. In the past year, my Mom has grown to be stronger and more independent. Sure, she has her ups and downs (like we all do) and there isn't a day that goes by where she doesn't think of my Dad. He would be very proud of her and how far she's come. We're all very proud of her.

Happy birthday, Mom! Happy Retirement! Today I'm thinking of all of the times we visited you at the post office. Walking around the lake with you in Jamaica Plain, trips up and down Centre Street while waiting for you to finish your route, Tristan getting all excited at seeing your big mail truck ("big truck!"), waiting for you at Dunkin Donuts, your many comments of how you had to change before we went ANYWHERE because you wouldn't be caught dead in your uniform, etc... I know that the post office was a lot of hard work but I also know how much you loved your customers and how much they loved you. You went above and beyond the call many times. You made some good friends and many memories. 

We love you. Daddy would be proud.