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Two months ago, I wrote about my mother Jeanie's battle with kidney cancer, and many of you expressed your heartfelt wishes.
Since our obituary page is highly read, you may be aware that Jean Franco passed away last month -- May 19 to be exact. She was 84.
I'd like to use today's column to provide some observations and reflections on the life my mother shared with me and my siblings.
Rainy day fund
She was always good at planning for a rainy day.
She and my father (John) put me through four years at Penn State on salaries that people did not put kids through college on. Maybe that explains why the lady had five umbrellas in the trunk of her car.
I bring this up because my sister and brothers now have the task of sorting through her things.
In the back of her car, which is the cleanest trunk in the history of trunks, she had five umbrellas.
One belonged to her boyfriend, George, but still, four umbrellas? Every time Stephen Bishop's "Save it for a Rainy Day" comes on the radio, I will forever think of my mother.
But I didn't need any help from a song to do that.
Meticulous cleaner
Do you want to know how clean the interior of her Honda Accord is?
Ask my wife, Ann Marie, what she thought of the bath towels that were placed over the floor mats in the front and back seats of my mother's car.
Jean's car had the cleanest floor mats in Blair County.
And one more thing: It's a 16-year-old car that doesn't even have 40,000 miles on it. She knew how to take care of things.
Priority of food
She was a big influence on me when it came to cooking for my family.
Whenever I was preparing dinner, I would always call her and let her know what I was making and what I was putting in it.
She'd offer some pointers, and I always took some over for her.
She tried not to hurt my feelings, but if there was something she didn't like, she told me not to bring any the next time, like "Hamburger Helper" or spaghetti with garlic and pepperoni, which my sons love.
My wife cooks quality. I cook quantity.
Fitting end
As mentioned, my mother passed away on May 19. Several days later, I called the Mirror to cancel her subscription.
I found out that it had expired but that they were continuing to send it to her with a notice that a bill was forthcoming. The expiration date, ironically, was May 19.
I don't even know how to joke about that, other than to say my mother always had perfect timing, so I have to give her a big tip of the hat on this one.
Brothers in grief
One of my very good friends, Jimmy Garlena, lost his mother on the same day as I lost my mother. He and I go back to our freshman year at Bishop Guilfoyle.
Our moms knew each other and actually lived next door to each other for a very brief time. They also rehabbed together for about a month at HealthSouth in Altoona. Their obituaries appeared together in the Mirror on the same day -- May 21.
If you don't know Jimmy, let me tell you that he has a wicked sense of humor, and he knew I was hurting that day.
He called to tell me his mother died in the afternoon. I called him about five hours later after my mom had passed away, too.
His comforting words to me: "My mom beat your mom to heaven by about five hours."
I laughed through the tears.
Sports writer Scott Franco writes a monthly column for the Mirror.