Gertrude Sanford, 79 Yonkers

Maybe it’s because she was the youngest of nine children — and she learned to get along with people at an early age — that my mother was the most hospitable and gracious person I’ve ever known.

She was born in The Bronx, and because most of her family stayed there, they were always stopping by out of the blue — and there was always something for them to eat. Pot roast and macaroni were the specialties. She didn’t have a lot growing up, and in a family with nine kids, they were able to feed a lot of people with a couple pounds of pasta and a pot roast. Everything was on the menu at some point, even for my friends who’d come over. You name it, she made it: skirt steak, roast chicken, fried fish and cheesecake.

She was also the original team mom for me, my twin brother and my sister — hustling us all over the city for Catholic Youth Organization basketball and Little League games. She got a lot of her energy from having her family around. That includes my father, Michael, who died in 2018. He was a Teamster, who drove a truck during the week and worked as a mover on the weekends. He would get home late a lot of the time, and he was fortunate because my mother always fed him regardless of what time it was. Not everyone was able to say that.

As her kids grew up, she worked as a clerk at stores like Macy’s and Sears — all while still balancing her family responsibilities. She didn’t shy away from anything because it was hard or unpleasant.

My mother taught us how to be good, too — how to stand up for each other and not to judge one another. Regardless of the color of your skin, your background or your sexuality, everyone was equal.

Hopefully my siblings and I can do the same for our seven kids, the grandchildren whom she considered her greatest legacy.