This weekend is all about celebrating mom. But sometimes loved ones can be oceans away, and for Teresa Giammona, the distance is even more heartbreaking.
- Daughter missing mom on Mother's Day
- Mom in hospice care in Puerto Rico
"It’s hard because it’s probably going to be her last Mother’s Day here with us,” she said.
Teresa lives in Pinellas Park. Her mom, Maria, is a thousand miles away, in hospice care in Puerto Rico.
“Like a week ago, she took a turn for the worse. Now she’s not talking. Sleeping, mainly. But she’s peaceful, and that’s what we want for her,” she said.
Maria and her husband came to the United States to be with Teresa when the hurricane devastated the island.
But when Maria fell ill, it was her dying wish to go back to the home she shared with her husband for decades in Puerto Rico.
“She wanted to go back with my dad, and they’re together in the same place right now,” she said.
So now, an ocean separates the mother and daughter.
Teresa will make the trip to see her as soon as she can. But this weekend, she'll settle for a phone call and pray her mom can still hear and understand her message.
“[I will] tell mama I love you, you’re the best mother in the world. You made my life so easy. She was the best mother. She still is the best mother,” she said.