Goodbye Mom (January 9, 1918- January 18, 2015)

No Gravatar

mom & sheryl

I have been so blessed and grateful to have had my mom with me for as long as I did. Although her world got smaller over the last few years as she lost much of her cognitive abilities, our time spent together was still filled with love and light. When I came to see her she would always light up, smile and tell me that she loved me. And for that I will forever be thankful.

When you think about your parents, you don’t usually think about their lives before they became parents. I learned a lot about my beautiful mother, 7 years ago when I was compiling photos for a video montage that I created for her 90th birthday. In looking through all of the photos I discovered that as a girl, she had lots friends with whom she socialized, going away on weekend trips to the country or the beach. I realized that my mom was not very different from me – well maybe one thing was different – there are lots of photos of her posing with various sports equipment, although I can’t honestly say that I have ever actually seen her participate in any sport – except for swimming, which she loved – so we at least did have that in common.

She met my dad and they got married in 1944 when he returned from the war. They had my brother Neil, and 8 years later they had me. She swore that I was not an accident. My parents were married for 27 years when my dad passed away at the age of 59, just two months shy of my 16th birthday. My mom, put aside her grief to make sure that my Sweet Sixteen did not go un-noticed. She gathered my best girlfriends and we had my party at our apartment, complete with the sugar cube corsage that her mother had made for her.

As mothers and daughters often do, my mom and I have always shared a special bond.

We traveled together visiting all the places that she and dad had never gotten to, making our own memories. Later, her passion for travel grew to include many trips – with her mother, her friends and finally with Hy – her second chance at love. I am forever grateful for the years that mom and Hy were able to share, bringing joy and companionship to each others lives.

My mom was an artist. Her painting are hung throughout her apartment. She continued to paint well into her later years, and when that became too much she sketched with colored pencils well into her early 90’s. I think that I inherited her talent and love for art, and for this I thank you mom. She loved to visit museums when she was younger and even worked as a docent in an art museum for a while.

My mom was beautiful, both inside and out. She was a loving daughter, an extraordinary mother, a doting grandmother to Joseph and Alexandra, an amazing sister to Alan and sister-in-law to Roz, and a more amazing aunt to Michael and Beth. She and her cousin Irma were as close as sisters.

Mom was loved by one and all. She was kind to everyone and never had a bad word to say about anyone. Even when she could no longer remember names, she would always say hello  and smile at whoever passed her by. She was always concerned about us – if she was cold, she’d say “I’m cold, put on a sweater.”

Mom had many friends and she always tried to stay in touch with them, if not in person then by phone. From her close girlfriends that she had growing up to friends from 2840, our apartment building in the Bronx, summer friends from the bungalow colony, colleagues from the Bank of Commerce where she worked as a marketing manager and later on, friends from the neighborhood and pool in Riverdale where she lived.

Mom was blessed to have two wonderful aides, Faustina and Ruth, who cared for her for the past three years with kindness, compassion and love that went above and beyond. Thank you both for all you have done for her.

For years, my mother told my brother and I that her middle name was Dorothy. At her 90th birthday party, my uncle said that he always thought her middle name was “Darling.” We teased her about this. Although I never could find confirmation of this since her birth certificate has neither name on it, I think the name suits her. Ironically, her greeting to those closest to her was always “Hello Darling, so great to hear from you.” And so I say goodbye to my darling, wonderful mother, Berenice Darling may you forever rest in peace. I will love you always.

Challenges in Yoga mirror challenges in life

No Gravatar

 

Sheryl Checkman in Firefly pose

Firefly pose side view

Yoga is a never-ending practice of self-exploration. Each practice is different. What I can do one day, I may not be able to to the next. On the other hand, what was once difficult can also become obtainable. The same is true in life. My yoga practice allows me to check-in with my body and mind for 75-90 minutes and explore the possibilities and boundaries for the day. Being a somewhat “type-A” personality, I like to challenge myself, working on guiding my body into new, often difficult poses – preferably without hurting myself. The key here is to listen to my body’s signals, and know when to stop. I may not be ready to get there today, but maybe next time.

Headstand is one of those yoga poses that I thought I would never be able to do. It just looked too scary to me to even try. But I did try it and thanks to my wonderful yoga instructor Suzanne and the intention that I set for myself to overcome my fears, I now can do it with very little effort, and no fear. I don’t even need the wall (most of the time!).

Next, I challenged myself to learn Firefly, or Tittibhasana, as it is known in sanskrit. This is an arm balance pose that requires a lot of core strength. My instructor told me how to start out using blocks to get into the pose at first I then looked at some pictures and videos online showing the full pose and little by little I have been able to accomplish it. No longer using the blocks,  I can now hold the pose longer and get my legs out straighter at each new attempt. If I fall out of the pose, I just try again. No judgement. I found this video online that gives a good explanation of the pose. Next up: Side Crow!

Firefly pose front view

Firefly pose front view

What I have learned through challenging myself in yoga is that whether or not I am able to do the full pose is irrelevant, it is that I keep trying, accepting each days’ accomplishments for what they are, without judging myself. I may never achieve the full pose, and that’s ok. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Now the biggest challenge is to take this into my life off the mat.

What challenges are you working on?

Reflecting on the Past Year, Looking Forward to a New One

No Gravatar

Jewish New Year AppleTonight at sundown Jews around the world (myself included) will observe Kol Nidre, the start of the holiest day of the year… Yom Kippur. During the following 24+ hours we ask for forgiveness and atone  for our sins and transgressions of the previous year. And in the new year, Yamim Nora’im, 5774 we once again can start fresh.

I like this concept of getting a new start, a do-over, so to speak. It is particularly meaningful for me this year. Tomorrow I will reflect on the past year, the things I did and the things I didn’t do, the people I may have inadvertently hurt and things that I am not proud of. I will ask forgiveness, I will atone, and then I will set an intention to do better this year. This New Year brings with it the hope for a fresh start, new beginnings and limitless possibilities. I am going to embrace this new year with hope – for myself, for my family, for my friends, and for the world. I am choosing to be optimistic that this New Year will be a sweet one! Shana Tova!