Soledad O’Brien Shares Inspiring Memories of Mother on Her Passing
Earlier on Twitter, the journalist and national news anchor, Soledad O’Brien shared that she had just lost her mother, an especially sad revelation, considering her beloved father had passed just 40 days ago…
My mom died today. Joining my dad who passed away 40 days ago. She was a pretty remarkable lady. An immigrant from Cuba, she lived with the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore during college. Here (on the left) she is in Cuba in the 1930s. pic.twitter.com/oZNzEqa7ig
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) March 18, 2019
In a piece for Guideposts, O’Brien wrote about her parents’ beautiful meeting and marriage, and their shared immigrant stories that brought them together:
My parents were both immigrants—my mother from Cuba, my father from Australia. Both attended daily Mass at the church near campus. Every day my father would offer my mother a ride. Every day, she declined. Finally, she said yes. One year later, the day after Christmas, the two of them were married.
She’d go on to marry my dad (mixed race marriages were illegal in Maryland in 1959). The year their sixth child (my little brother) was born the US Supreme Court would overturn the ban on interracial marriage. Here she is with me and dad. pic.twitter.com/2sDaLc0LlQ
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) March 18, 2019
O’Brien’s parents went on to raise a half dozen remarkable children, all of whom graduated from Harvard University. Talk about impressive! But, despite artfully paying homage to her parents’ guiding lights, she is just like everyone else who just lost someone close–she really, really misses her mom.
She was pretty awesome. But mostly I wish lots of young, working women had access to her wisdom. “Everyone gets the same 24 hours. Decide how you’ll spend yours”. “Take 24 hours to sit in bed and cry.. then stop complaining and make a list and plan your comeback” pic.twitter.com/VslASFmp5H
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) March 18, 2019
Profound words, and ones to live by! We’d love to hear your thoughts on Soledad O’Brien’s tweets. Did her words have an effect on you? Have you recently lost a parent? If so, would you like to share a story about your late mom or dad?