"Mami": My Favorite Person Ever

Re-printed from my January 15, 2010 post on Señora Cartera
.....If you ask folks who their favorite person is, many would undoubtedly answer that their mothers are. I definitely fall under that category. My mom will always be my favorite person. She fostered my love of fashion, handbags in particular, and taught me from a very early age to work hard for anything I wanted. She believed nothing is out of our grasp if we put our heart and souls into attaining it.

13 yr old Queens transplant(1968); teen bride(1970); loving mom(1974)
I only had my mom around for a short time. She passed away when I was eleven years old. Even though I've spent the majority of my life without her, I've always felt her presence in it. I can't listen to a 70's song, browse through a thrift shop or go shopping for a bag without thinking of her. It's inevitable. When I was a little girl, she was my idol (aside, of course, from Andy Gibb). Her favorite things became my favorite things. Her tastes became my tastes.

Case in point. Here are a few of my mom's "favorite things" (and mine, as well) - a sequined disco tube top, vintage Gucci clutch and the ever beautiful Diane von Furstenberg. DvF was her idol, the woman she molded her style after. My mom read her book entitled "Diane von Furstenberg's Book of Beauty: How to Become a More Attractive, Confident and Sensual Woman" so many times, I lost count. In fact, she would quote it all the time. Kaftan tops, chunky necklaces and wide-bottom pants were my mother's wardrobe staples. She loved her suede fringed hobo as much as her box-shaped handbag or Gucci envelope clutch. She was an amazing disco dancer (she and my father won many dance contests in the late 70's). I would sit on our red velvet sofa for hours watching them practice their routines. In my eyes, she was a goddess. Fierce when it came to style, but sweet in every other respect. She was, by far, the kindest human being I've ever encountered. A true "flower child" at heart. Perhaps this is the reason why, after 26 years of being apart, my mother remains my favorite person. Her sense of style and devotion to fashion were admirable, but it was her outer as well as inner beauty I'll cherish the most.....