Sunday afternoons on ordinary days…we pull up and park in front of my mom and dad’s house.  We sometimes get there the same time as my younger sister as she parks her black Honda in front of the house.  More often than not, my older sister and her husband pull up and park right behind us.  They emerge from the car with perhaps an appetizer or dessert, with Abu the dog, in tow.  It is a long time tradition…Sunday lunch at my parent’s.

My brother is already inside and my mother greets us with a radiant smile as she brushes her hands off on her apron to give us each a hug.  She has been cooking since she’s been back from church, and my dad wants a hug too as he quickly tastes the homemade spaghetti sauce he has on the stove.  The kitchen is filled with the aroma that brings back memories of my grandmother’s kitchen.  My 99 year old Italian grandmother was who taught my father the gift for making authentic Italian food. 

 My sisters pour into the kitchen to help prepare whatever is left to help with.  My mother needs help sauteing some broccoli, making a salad, and putting some dishes away.  We hear loud footsteps from my two nephews and niece that just arrived with my oldest sister and husband.  My mother scoops down to hug my four year old niece as she enthusiastically tells the details of her morning. 

 In the distance the television plays as the familiar sound of football fills in the air.  The men start talking about their favorite teams and players, while predicting the games for the day.  My mother asks one of us to set the table and to get drinks out on the counter.  We all gather around the kitchen island as my father thanks the Lord for another day and for the food we are about to partake.

 And there you have it…my ordinary Sunday afternoons.  I really treasure those days because I know it won’t always be like that.  I have had sort of a reflective day and I want to remind every woman, in honor or Breast Cancer Awareness next month, to get your mammograms and breast examined. 

My mother just had her mammogram, and although there is nothing to be worried about, the doctors want to order her an MRI to be able to have a better look at an enlarged milk duct.  Breast cancer runs in my family and both my great-grandmother and grandmother have had it.  I am very thankful that my mom is proactive in getting her mammograms. 

I also didn’t know this until I read this little girl’s CaringBridge site that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  The parents of Ava (from the CaringBridge site) lost their 4 1/2 year old to stage 4 cancer.  They are trying to raise money and are nowhere near their goal.  If you so desire, you may donate here.  I do not know this family, but have been touched by their story. 

As every post is better with a picture, I have attached a couple of my family.  The first one is of my siblings and I on Mother’s day in my sister’s kitchen.  The second one is of my mom (the one in the middle) and her two sisters this past weekend.  I just want to say how proud I am of my mom…she’s lost 30 + pounds!  She is so beautiful, has always been beautiful, and I hope that I can be half the mother she is one day to my little boy.