A life full of color.....

March 27th my mother passed away.  
It was sudden, it was unexpected....it was totally Mom.   She always did things her way.  
Frank Sinatra may have made a particular song famous, but my mother LIVED it, every day.  (I cannot tell you her age because a lady NEVER told her age.  "You have to leave a little mystery...")

If Van Gogh were to have painted her, his palette would have been filled with all shades...of RED. Mother may have been sad sometimes but she was NEVER blue.  Heaven forbid.

My mother was over the top.  She was the life of the party...in fact, the party never got started until she arrived.  Few photos of her exist with JUST MOM.  She was a hugger and a kisser, a lover AND a fighter.
She she would shake her fist and yell... and she would laugh until she cried.  
She was spicy and spunky ( she was a Scot after all)  And, oh how my daddy loved that!

Mom sucked every bit of life out of living...and people couldn't help but get caught up in her.  She feared nothing and no one.   
Daddy, with all the love in his heart, called her Hurricane Linda when she was "on a roll."   You couldn't help but love her. You might be terrified of her at times but you simply couldn't help but want to be near her.    You could just FEEL the life force within her, trying to burst out.  
Every head turned when she walked into the room....some in fear her eye would land on them and deem them unworthy.    

As a young girl I once wondered if mom would go to heaven when she died.  I knew daddy would....he was so kind, so predictable, so easy.  
Mom was never anything remotely like that.  Sure, she could be sweet but she was never predictable and certainly never easy.  The only thing easy about her was her laugh.  It was full and rich and loud and happy and a "you just had to laugh along even if you didn't know the joke" kind of laugh...

I know now that the only place mom COULD go is heaven because God is the only being that could handle her.  I'm sure the devil himself shuddered every time she got out of bed.  I bet he ran for cover the moment her feet hit the floor.  Oh, how I wish I was more like that.

Mom, I love the laughter you taught me.  I love the LOVE you taught me. I love you.