November 16, 2010

Remembering my Mother and the Importance of Giving

Today, November 16th, is the third anniversary of my mother, Big Martha’s, passing.  You may have seen my television show last Friday, entitled Center for Living Show.  Dr. Audrey Chun, Martha Stewart Center for Living medical director, shared eldercare tips.  We were joined by two really inspirational guests - Roger Gentilhomme, a 101-year-old competitive tennis player and Esther Tuttle, a 99-year-old working actress.  Spending time with such active and vital senior citizens, got me really missing and thinking about my mom.

In her latter years, my mother experienced considerable hearing loss for which she purchased hearing aids.  Hearing aids, as you may know, are costly devises and I wondered what became hers.  I was relieved to hear that my sister, Laura, donated them along with Mom’s eyeglasses.  Those hearing aids and glasses were refurbished and given to benefit someone in need.  My mother’s beautiful wardrobe was also donated to an eldercare facility.  It makes me proud and happy knowing how many lives my mother touched in her lifetime and after.

Co-incidentally, tomorrow is also the third annual Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Gala.  This outpatient medical facility, located in Manhattan, specializes in eldercare and is dedicated to my beloved mother. Since establishing this center in November 2007, we have been mindful of the fact that the first of 78 million baby boomers will start turning 65 in 2011.  At tomorrow night’s gala, our special guest is MTV star Andrew Jencks, who, at 19, wrote, directed, and starred in an HBO documentary about his five weeks living in an assisted living facility in Florida.  We are hoping to raise a significant amount of money for the center so that it can continue to help the aging American population grow old gracefully, healthfully, and well.  Even if you cannot attend, you can still bid online via Charitybuzz.com on some really great items, such as a paid internship at MSLO, an appearance on my television show, fabulous vacations, and so much more.

Posted in: Family, Giving, Miscellaneous, Photo Gallery
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