I CHER-ISH MY MEMORIES

Yesterday I received a personally autographed photo from Cher.  The photo arrived a week after Cher gave me a shout out on Twitter. After receiving both the shout out and the photo, my first thought was, "I wish Mom was here." 

Six years ago, when I got my first Cher Tweet, I started to call out, "Hey Mom, look at this." Then I remembered. She wasn't in the next room, I was alone in my house. As happy as I was, that realization made me sad.

Because of  Cher, I have fond memories of times I spent with my mom and grandma.

Every time I would buy a new album, my grandma would listen to it with me. She was in her eighties, I am sure she would have rather listened to something else, but she did it because she knew it made me happy. She watched Sonny and Cher too. She may have fallen asleep during the show, but she did her best, so we could talk about the show the next day. She thought I was a little nuts but in a good way.

The last time I saw my grandma was the night after I had seen Sonny and Cher in concert. She was in the hospital. I didn't realize how sick she was. She listened as I prattled on. Reciting Sonny and Cher's dialogue word for word. Had I known that would be the last time I'd see her, along with telling her about the concert, I would have told her I loved her one last time. I would have thanked her for being my best friend.

When I'd finished reading Cher's book, The First Time, my mom wanted to read it. I told her Cher used profanity a lot in the book.  "Oh for heaven's sake, you don't think I've heard those words before?" Mom read the book. She laughed.

I'd buy tee shirts at Cher's concerts I didn't want anything to happen to the shirts, so I never wore them. Each concert, as we made our way to the merchandise area this would be our conversion.

Mom "You really don't need another shirt. You never wear them."

Me:  "Yes I do. It's memorabilia."

Mom: " They are expensive."

Me:  "I have money."

I won't tell you how old I was when we had this exchange, but in 2014, as I  bought my shirt, I missed it.

When fans blocked my view, during The Farewell Tour, my mom told the security guard, "We paid good money for these tickets and my daughter can't see.." When fans still didn't move, Mom got up and began whispering in my ear. She described what was happening onstage to me until I was able to see the stage again.

When  I saw the photo Cher sent me, these memories and more came back to me. Memories shared with the two most important women in my life.

I hope my grandma and mom were looking down on me yesterday. I hope they heard me whisper, "Hey Mom, look at this."









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