My mother passed away peacefully Thursday afternoon.

She had hoped to come to Opening Day in Annapolis with my brother Bruce, as was her custom.

Mother was my Election Day coordinator when I first ran for the House of Delegates in 1982.

Her handwritten charts of who was volunteering in each precinct are atop a book case next to the desk where I am writing this tribute to her.

Mother was also my editor. he reviewed my drafts – from high school essays and a sermon to my summaries of my first 39 legislative sessions.

More importantly, she and my father taught me some lessons.

I drove to Amherst College in Massachusetts with Jean Fugett.  Jean’s parents would bring him from their house on Mosher St. to ours on Wallis Av.

As Jean and I drove away, my parents had invited his parents into our house.

That did not often happen among white and Black families in Baltimore in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

I went to Amherst for two reasons: Harvard said no, and my mother went to Smith College, 20 minutes away from Amherst on Route 9.

My parents’ lessons also had an impact on my course selection at law school.

I took Sex Discrimination and the Law. The class was taught by Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

My mother said that her crucial role in getting me elected was one of the highlights of her life.

Professor Ginsburg paved the way for women to take pride in what they accomplished on their own, as well as for their children.

May Mother’s memory be a blessing.