Jean died suddenly in August.  My son wrote one of her eulogies: “You and my mother were the only female chaperons on our lacrosse trip to Vail that summer and I think that resulted in a cross-familial bonding, like female lions tending for each other’s cubs.”  He goes on to talk about ways Jean influenced him: “While you may not have realized it, you continued to act as a mother to me, although indirectly, through your love for Vince.”

I am so grateful for the influence my friends (and my mom and sisters) have had on my children — some incredible women have helped shape them. The “YaYas” have cheered at lacrosse games and ballet recitals.  The “Blondes” have encouraged and passed along sage advice.  One of the blondes often uses the phrase “It Takes a Village” — and more importantly, she embodies it.

We share, support, laugh, cry, laugh to keep from crying, protect, and love each other’s kids. The playwright William Congreve wrote:  ”Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”  Clearly Mr. Congreve had never seen a mother protecting her child.

When I got the phone call from Vince that August day saying that his mom was in the hospital and he wasn’t sure she was going to make it, I wanted to teleport to the Philadelphia airport, throw my arms around him and tell him that everything would be okay, but I couldn’t.  I promised Vince that I would get to the hospital as soon as I could. Jean died that day before Vince got home from college on the east coast.

I heard from Vince today.  He is in the running for his school’s alumni scholarship and he asked me to keep my fingers crossed for him.  I have my fingers crossed, and I’m proud of him for just being nominated, but if he wins you will hear a BIG CHEER from Chrissy Field as the Saint Ignatius High School mom’s toast Vince with lattes before their walk.  It will be a cheer for Jean too.

Jean was a great mom.  The day after she died I sent Vince a letter to try to explain to him that his mom would always be present in his life.  I would like to share part of it with you as a celebration of Jean, my own incredibly wonderful mother, the women that have influenced my kids, and mothers everywhere.   Happy Mother’s Day!

On my last visit we were seated at a table between Alec Baldwin and company, and Kelsey Grammer and company.  I felt a little nervous sitting in-between these two: Mr. Baldwin is one of the most liberal guys in Hollywood and Mr. Grammer is one of the most conservative — both are very outspoken.  The two met in the middle (right by our table), shook hands, and had a friendly conversation — politics were clearly not on the menu. Celebrities like dining at Nobu because they are “protected” from the public. I’ve noticed a “big guy” that stands inconspicuously near the tables of the “known” to intercede if a fan deigns to interrupt the star’s dinner for a picture or an autograph.

The real star at Nobu however, is the food — Japanese with a South American influence.  Some of my favorite dishes are the tacos (especially the lobster and the king crab), the Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno, the Black Cod with miso, and any fresh vegetable they are serving with the jalapeno dressing.  The service is just right — they are always there when you need them but never in the way.  If you are overwhelmed by the menu just trust your server. Bonapeti!

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Brad Pitt shaved–finally!  His graying, scruffy goatee (that he was inclined to wear in a ponytail) is now a normal, hip, trimmed goatee.  Maybe he heard that my sixteen year-old daughter said that he looked like “an old Chinese man.”  What is it with very attractive people defacing themselves?  If it’s an attempt to become invisible then I have big news:  time will take care of that problem for you, and it will happen sooner than you think!  this is a test

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I tried to watch the USA vs. England World Cup soccer match but those incessant vuvuzela horns put me right to sleep.  I woke up, watched the 30-second highlight reel, and knew everything about the game that I needed to know.  Horns that create a beehive sounding white noise should not be legal at games where a high score is 3 to 2.  World Cup soccer has just passed golf for the “best sport to sleep to” award.

On the other hand, if you even blink during a basketball game you miss something–especially if it’s the Lakers vs the Celtics.  In game seven Kobe had a hard time making his shots, but even the best players’ shooting can go “cold.”  To his credit (and one of the reasons he’ll go down as one of the game’s best) he took up his own slack by hitting boards–getting 15 rebounds, and by not losing his temper or his focus.  Tiger Woods should take some “Kobe lessons” for life on, and off the court/course.

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A couple of summers ago mid-way on a flight from Boston to San Diego I finished the book I was reading.  I must have looked panicked to be book-less because the nice woman sitting next to me quickly offered me a book that she had finished.  Water for Elephants, thoroughly researched by author Sara Gruen, takes place amid a traveling circus in the 1930′s.  Spending over three hundred pages and three hours with circus people would not normally be my idea of a good time.  I started reading and found out that Jacob Jankowski, the protagonist felt the same way.  After a series of tragedies Jacob drops out of Cornell Law School just short of graduation, suffers a breakdown, jumps on a train that he soon finds out is a circus train.  Like me, Jacob had nowhere else to go so he makes the best of things by putting his veterinarian skills to use, falling in love (with a woman and an elephant) and finding out that humans can be more wild and dangerous than animals.  In the end, we both enjoyed our adventure.