In Loving Memory of my Mother Constance ( Connie) Deloris Codispot who passed away one year ago on February 19, 2021.

Mom it’s hard to believe you have been gone one year already.

In an Instant the World stopped and my life changed.

Our 4 to 5 daily phone calls ceased and it felt like I lost a love in my life like no other.

I thought now what do I do with my time and how do I fill that empty space that only a mother can fulfill.

I miss your frequent phone calls daily with questions from Dr. bills, all that junk mail you received to how to spell a word.

I Miss that mom. I miss your unconditional love.

Mom, you were a pillar of strength!

I watched you survive Brutal domestic abuse, a massive stroke that affected your speech and thought process, several open-heart surgeries and the loss of two children Sister Debbie and Brother Bob and you still dug deep and rose back up and raised your six kids and a grandchild at the time providing us with food, clothing and a home with little help from anyone.

Even after all of that when you needed family the most, they turned their backs on you and you still didn’t let that deter you from what was most important to you Family.

Mom, I hope you heard at the funeral home when your niece said that at that very same time you offered her a safe place to go where she could be honest and that you literally saved her life. Her words mom not mine.

Your nephew acknowledged that you gave him a place to go when he needed it the most. Mom it wasn’t just the family you looked after you looked after all the neighborhood kids and all of our friends came to you for advice.

Mom you represented women with passion and strength and overcame the impossible for women in your time.

I raise a glass to you and all women who stood up for themselves and overcame domestic violence in a time that it was unacceptable for women to stand up for themselves.

No women deserve the beatings and humiliation you endured, and I will not let you go without acknowledging your part in rising up against society, family, friends and quite frankly the world in those days.

You beat the odds against the impossible and now the world knows it and I am Proud to say I am your son.

Now as we approach your one-year anniversary I have to live with the fact that even though I was by your side when you passed I still do not feel like I got the chance to say goodbye.

Mom, Thank you for your heart and allowing us to always be honest with you about what was happening in our lives creating an unbreakable bond between mother and son.

Now after surviving several years of the COVID Pandemic our favorite pastime is starting up again.

The theaters are starting to present live performances. The curtains are rising, the music is filling the theater and the excitement we knew together lingers in the air for days.

This year we are presenting the first show you and I attended together (Hairspray).

I know this is going to be a hard show for me to attend but I wouldn’t miss it for the world, because I know you will be there.

There is no way you would ever let me attend without you.

But it won’t be the same.

Your Love for love Broadway Theater was something we shared and I feel fortunate that I was in a position to make theater accessible to you.

Mom after a long consideration I donated your Catholic Daughters of America uniform to the Marching Patronage Arts Museum in Upper Darby Pennsylvania and on November 20, 2021 your uniform was displayed at the World Drum Corp. Hall of Fame in the Largest all girl uniform display ever displayed.

I keep an eye out to see where you will be going next, and I hope to visit the DCI competition in August of this year in Indianapolis Pa where your uniform will once again be on displayed. Your uniform is on display a all times with a name plaque and a photo I provided of you posing in the uniform.

I often reminisce and try to imagine the sun going down over Butler Pennsylvania and the cool evening air settling in as horns fill the air, the drums start drumming and you as the leader of the Catholic Daughters of America blow your whistle, start marching lifting your knees high in the air with passion leading the girls down the streets of Butler with Pride as you did with everything you did in your life.

Mom I love you, and will miss you until the day I die and I will always remember your strength, your passion and your compassion for others but most of all I will miss your heart and the love you gave us all that only a special mother could give to a son.

I Honor you, I Love you and Miss You!

Your son Lenny