If You Are Fortunate Enough to Enjoy the Living Presence of Your Mother This Mothers' Day, Please Honor Her and Thank Her

It is human nature that we not fully appreciate what we have been given until it is gone, and such is the case with mothers.

I imagine that many who are fortunate enough to be able to mark with their mother the annual day on which we celebrate her will take their good fortune for granted.  There were years that I did.

This will be the ninth Mothers' Day on which I am without the beloved mother that provided me with a solid foundation in life, a legacy of lifelong learning and work among other positive traits. For those whose mothers have passed away, Mothers' Day is a bittersweet occasion. Thankfully, the keen loss diminishes with time, but it is never erased.  Beloved late Pittsburgh talk show icon Doug Hoerth said many times within his shows, "You never get over the loss of your mother."

At a time that it was not so common, my mother, Gloria Spiegler, was a divorcee raising a son, doing so with the assistance of my late grandmother.  Mother used her degree in Fine Arts from what was then Carnegie Tech to launch a successful career as a pianist and teacher which would extend more than six wonderful decades.  She prominently participated in Carnegie Tech's "Scotch and Soda" shows as a composer.  She played by ear and throughout the course of her career, she composed numerous musical scores that attracted interest.

She had a class of piano students of as many as eighty five per week, which included some of Pittsburgh's well-known families and many adults that were taking up piano lessons for the first time in their lives.  She taught a granddaughter of Henry and Elsie Hillman, two children of Dr. Cyril and Sigrid Wecht, two sisters of Howard Hanna and his their children, to cite but a few.  When Mother moved from Squirrel Hill to live across the street from me and my wife in 2002, she established a class of students here and some longstanding students from her Squirrel Hill studio traveled here from afar.  She taught until illness robbed her of that ability in 2004.  None of her students made it to Carnegie Hall in New York City, but many were gifted.  My love of classical music is surely a result of my mother's influence in my life.

Performing was Mother's first love and she had the privilege of enjoying it regularly.  She had uncommonly long stints at the William Penn Hotel (1960 to 1964 and 1984 to 1998)(performing in the Palm Court and Terrace Room, often playing on the Baldwin concert grand piano that was used by Andre Previn during his time with the Pittsburgh Symphony) and Pittsburgh Hilton, the PAA, Edgeworth Club, Concordia Club, Stouffer's Gaslight Club and Schrafft's, and many other establishments, and played for countless weddings, parties, and other special occasions.  She treasured and framed a note of appreciation that was left for her during her time at the William Penn by noted and ageless jazz pianist Marian McPartland and other musicians that were in her party, which sat in the lobby to listen to Mother perform.

To those that are able to enjoy the gift of their mother's presence this Mothers' Day rather than to simply be able to remember and toast her, please let her know how much she means to you and the influence she has had in your life before it is too late.  You will make her day and you will not regret it.