Memories of her mother are few and far between yet Dr. Hannah Brooks keeps those happy memories close to her heart. The ones she cherishes most are of her mother's love of music, love of nature and the significance of her mother's spiritual faith. Those memories reinforce Hannah's love of her mother. Their relationship was very special yet at times painful.
Hannah refers to her mother as a saint and her hero. As a child, my guest, remembers her mother's great sense of humor, dancing and listening to music, learning about bug and butterflies and the significance of faith.
Rebecca, Hannah's mother endured much pain and sorrow as a young girl fleeing the Nazi's in Europe. At 17, Rebecca, on her own, immigrated to America with her younger brother.
The definition of the word 'saudade' - a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one cares for and/or loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again."
My guest understands this feeling completely. She hangs onto the good memories and has passed them onto her own daughter Rebecca, who's named after her mother.
Dr. Hannah Brooks is a board certified surgeon, breast cancer specialist and geneticist and now practices upstate New York.