“She didn’t give us her blood, but she gave us her love, and so we called her ‘Mom.’ It’s every orphan’s dream to be hand-picked and placed into a good home. But to be hand-picked by Cherie Valentino—that was beyond a dream because she was the embodiment of motherly love.”

That’s how I began the eulogy for my mother, Cherie G. Valentino, who died seven years ago today. I knew that if I could just get past those first few sentences, I’d be able to finish the message. By the grace of God I did, but even now those words meddle softly with this grateful heart.  Continue Reading…