A great Mother's Day

My favorite memory of my Grandma Abdalla is from Mother's Day in 1993. I was 12 years old.
My family was gathered at her house in the west side of Scranton for some cold meat sandwiches, cold drinks and some good times.
This was during the summer I fell in love with baseball.

It was magical playing with friends and discovering this game. Of course it helped that the Philadelphia Phillies were having a magical season.
Mother's Day was a big part of that magic.

Grandma and Poppy's house looks the same.

I was playing outside with my nephew Tom and my niece Sarah when we were summoned inside.
I remember my Uncle Rich, my father and others gathering around the TV.
"The bases are loaded," Grandma said.
"Mariano Duncan is batting," one of my uncles said.
"Lee Arthur Smith is on the mound," Dad added, imitating Harry Kalas. I don't ever remember my father imitating Harry's famous home run call. But he always imitated the way Kalas said "MUNtreALL," "He-POPPED-im-UP" and "Lee Arthur Smith."
Just the way my dad said Smith's name seemed so ominous.
Well, Smith was in the ominous situation that day. The bases were loaded. And the Phils had magic on their side.
Duncan slammed the ball over the fence for a grand slam that eventually won the game.
The next day's headline - Slam Duncan - is still one of my favorites.
But what I remember most was how my grandmother had gotten so excited. How she pumped her fists. How she beamed, absolutely beamed, with joy. It was the prettiest I ever saw her.
On Sunday, 19 years later, I walked by the house Grandma and Poppy owned.
I felt terribly sad that they never got to meet Michael. He's brought so much joy to Molly, Me and our families. I know they would have adored him and his smile and laughter.
This was Molly's first Mother's Day with a child and I wanted it to be very special for her. Her mom drove down from New York and met Molly, Michael, my mom and I for lunch at Cooper's Sea Food in Scranton.
Our meals were fantastic and it was fun to watch the grandmother's dote on Michael (Sorry I don't have pictures of them, Molly and I both forgot our phones.)
I hope Michael gets to know his grandmothers as I did mine.
Mine - Grandma Abdalla and Grandma Buckley - had a huge influence on me.
While I know he won't remember that dinner, his mother will.