Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Most Important Lesson I Ever Learned


I think of my mother every day, especially on her birthday. Today would have been my mother's 78th birthday and she's on my mind and in my heart. We could drive each other crazy, but her love was unconditional. She taught me so much and I share this column as a tribute to her.

The following tribute originally appeared in the
Orlando Sentinel as a Saturday Special on July 10, 2000. I miss you, mama, and I love you more than life itself.

The most important lesson I ever learned is one that I am learning right now. My mother’s sudden and unexpected death on June 22, 2000, turned my world upside down. My mother was the heart and soul of our family, and all of our hearts were broken that day. But she taught me so much during her life, and in death she is teaching me still.

Throughout my 40 years, there were many times I wondered how my mother could be content with her life. She was a stay-at-home mom who never worked outside the home after she married my father 44 years ago. And her favorite “exotic destination” was the lushly-landscaped swimming pool in her very own backyard. How could that be rewarding enough? I spent 20 years juggling a demanding career and a family and trying to manage the stress that went with life in the fast lane. But she always knew what I have only recently realized — making a difference in the life of a child is far more noble and rewarding than any career could ever be.

My parents have often been asked for their “secret formula” for raising kids. They raised four of us. Today each of us is personally fulfilled and professionally successful in our own rights … a surgeon, a public relations professional, a successful salesman and an engineer “whiz kid.” And not one of us has ever been in trouble with the law! No small feat for any parents! Of course there were some trials and tribulations along the way, including a new baby in 1973 when my mother was 40 (way before it was fashionable to be 40 and pregnant). But risks, plans or finances weren’t a consideration for my parents — family was the most important thing. And though I know there were times along the way when our parents probably didn’t like us very much, there was never a time that any one of us ever doubted that we were truly, unconditionally loved. And our parents always made sure that we knew how very proud they were of each and every one of us. There was no big secret — they just filled our lives with love and laughter and everything else took care of itself.

The last book that my mother read was one that I shared with her, “Tuesdays with Morrie.” A passage from that book is so profound … “As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on — in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here. Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

My mother’s death has changed the way I will live the rest of my life. I will no longer let the little things bother me, my family will never come second again, and I will not put things off until tomorrow.

And so, while my mother, Phyllis Portoghese, did not lead a corporation or travel the world, she touched the lives of so many. And as her children and our children continue to touch the lives of others, her memory and her purpose lives on. That is her legacy. That is the most important lesson I will ever learn.