Love Letter To Mom: Happy Mother's Day, Martha

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — She's the one that loved you first, but mom is much more than that. She’s a friend, a teacher, a counselor, a shoulder to cry on — and maybe one of the toughest women you’ve ever met.

We asked Patch readers in more than 1,000 communities to tell us what their moms mean to them. Nearly 200 people responded, paying tribute not just to moms but sometimes to grandmas, sisters and daughters who deserve recognition for Mother’s Day 2021.

Here’s what Octavio Girbau of Manhattan Beach had to say about mom Martha of Matanzas :

Every night for the last 9 years I've had the privilege and the pleasure of going next door to visit my mom. When I was working I usually had time to go see her around 10 at night and I would stay with her for a couple of hours. Now that I'm retired that tradition continues. Every night I tell my girls, I'm off to Granny's, and off I go. My mother is a late to bed late to rise woman. She's 93 years young. When I get there she has the TV on. On the days that I get there early some baseball game or basketball game is on TV. If it's at 10 then there's an old movie on Turner, or MGM. This week I've been getting there late and it's been old movies that have won an Oscar in honor of Oscars week. I've seen some great movies this week. "The Quiet Man." Boys Town." And tonight it was a movie that I had never seen, "Captains Courageous, " with Spencer Tracy. Great movie. Great old movie. Great old movie with a great message. Going to my Mom's is special for many reasons. I have been blessed by God to still have her after all these years. I'm grateful beyond words for that. I'm also grateful that my Mom is a sports fan and a movie fan, and this week I've seen great films, the kind that they just don't make anymore. Movies with a heart, a message, and wonderful stories. So many times I complain that there's nothing good to watch on TV and then I show up at Granny's and she's watching something in black and white and I'm drawn to the TV like a moth to a flame. Tonight it was "Captains Courageous." In a few days they're showing "Twelve Angry Men." I don't know what time it's on and it doesn't matter because I know that Granny will record it and one night when I walk through her door it will be on her TV. I don't always stay awake for the entire show, and many times I get there halfway through a movie, and on some nights I just fall asleep on her couch, I used to do that quite a bit when I was working. But the nights that I have spent at Granny's during the past 9 years I treasure like few things that I have in my life. Maybe I'm just a sentimental old coot, but one day the theater will go dark, hopefully not too soon yet, and all that will be left will be the cherished memories of movie night at my Mom's. Thank you God for this gift that you've given me, and for Spencer Tracy, and Freddy Bartholomew, and and especially for my Mom.