04/22/2026
𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐲.
It is also an important day for me and my family as we lost my mother on this day 11 years ago. Two of my children never got to meet her and my oldest for only his first year or so. I was her only child so it’s mostly on me to keep her memory alive. Being a motherless mother has its own challenges, mainly that I don’t get to share my beautiful children with their Nona who would’ve found such joy in them. Sharing a poem I wrote a few years ago.
𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬
Sometimes when I lie in my bed and close my eyes to take a quick recharging nap
my children quietly (finally) themselves, napping
I can see my mom’s face
her freckled olive skin
as if it were inches from mine...
and I remember what she looked like when she was alive,
and I remember what she looked like when she was dying, that in between alive and not alive look that your skin gets,
and I remember what she looked like dead.
She was beautiful (although she probably wouldn’t have thought so), in every stage from here to gone,
from present to illusory,
from breath, to mist, to cold, to ash.
I can feel the soft skin of her neck as I nuzzle in to breathe deeply her smell.
I can remember her smell,
as if she were lying next to me
right this very minute.
My beautiful mama, who I hugged and snuggled not nearly enough;
Who I appreciated so much less than I should have,
and who loved me no matter how ungrateful and naively unaware I was
of her gift
of motherhood
and unconditional love.
**You can find more writing about motherhood as well as documentation of my pregnancy at 46 via short dance videos (the best ones shot by through the first year of the pandemic at matrescencemonologues.com or at the link in our bio.
Xo, Daniele
