I’ve written a book about this incredible woman because of all she has done to inspire me, her family and strangers all over the world. You can register to be the FIRST TO KNOW when the books hits the stores by going to http://DeadRitasWisdom.com IF your name is Rita, let me know that when you sign up and you’ll get a FREE copy (no joke).
She would have been 77 today. It’s impossible to believe she’s been gone 10 years. Right now ‘You raise me up’ is playing. That was what she did for me and those she loved.
But the song that best describes her is Bette Midler’s ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’. When that song first came out, I gave it to her on a little cassette. I stood there just in awe that she would play a song that perfectly described who she was to me. While it might have been named Song of the Year in 1990, it was the song of my greatest love, my Mom. Wherever Bette Midler is at this moment, may she continue to sing songs that bring such love and meaning to others. Also, I’d like her to read Dead Rita’s Wisdom. It’s perfect for her – outrageous, funny, heartfelt and wise. Like I see Bette Midler. So if you know her, please make an introduction for me. And I just looked up her BD on IMDb. December 1. Frankly, if her BD had been the same as Mom’s, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. But it’s nice and close!
Here are words that to this day make me cry when I hear them:
It must have been cold there in my shadow,
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that’s your way,
you always walked a step behind.
So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name — for so long,
a beautiful smile to hide the pain.
CHORUS:
Did you ever know that you’re my hero,
and ev’rything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
’cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I’ve got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it,
I would be nothing without you.
(CHORUS)
Fly, fly, fly away,
you let me fly so high.
Oh, fly, fly,
so high against the sky, so high I almost touch the sky.
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you,
the wind beneath my wings.
Happy Birthday Mom – how I wish you were here so that I could make you a pineapple upside down cake and you could eat all the pineapple off the top. Loved it when you did that!