Memories of Mom: A Loving Journey in Her Honor

This video was made to pay tribute to my mother, Charlotte Patricia Gray, who many of you know is the lady in the THANKS TOBACCO: YOU KILLED MY MOM video.

It's been over a year since her passing and the video we filmed has no doubt saved hundreds of lives and I couldn't be more proud of what we did. The video is being watched close to 500 times a day and is up over 250,000+ views as of yesterday. It's in the hands of health teachers at schools, workers at American Lung Association Clinics, and being utilized by so many professionals as a teaching aid across the Country. It has become projects for students, inspiration to quit and to help others quit smoking and also to prepare some of the people that are about to go through this personally. It has been a comment forum to share our hearts and souls as there are too many of us out there that lost a loved one like this. Though my emotions are always a roller-coaster having to tend to the daily comments of the video, I am so glad we got this out there in the world to make a difference. It was her deepest wish to help save lives. It has helped me come to terms with the emotions and have closure knowing her death was not in vain. She made a difference in my life beyond measure and I appreciate her more everyday that I am alive...I can only imagine how she will be looked upon by the countless people that she helps with the video. Your gratitude is already clearly evident to a point where I am overwhelmed by the comments that I in no way can even keep up with.

My only desire in making this picture slideshow with some happy video of her talking about personal stuff was to show ONLY THE HAPPY MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER AND BEFORE SHE HAD HER STROKE.

I wanted a video of her that embraced her unconditional love for all people as that was her very being her whole life. She was a selfless giver to her own detriment.

Now, I know if she were still alive, she'd be telling me not to show off her *toothless* pictures after her false teeth needed replacement, but I couldn't bear to leave out heart-warming memories over a toothless grin or two. lol
Besides, a lot of 50-something folks are toothless. ;)

She was also a good artist that stopped doing it for most of her life and just picked it back up her last year alive and I thought they were amazing so I highlighted them at the end of the video.

I am a musician, so I added my personal recordings of ideas that were improvised over the years and found what I thought was the best emotional fit. I was going to use *Dust in the Wind* by Kansas for the slide show, but I didn't want to illegally use someone else's song as my Mom wouldn't steal a penny candy so it didn't make sense to sully her flawless soul.

I wanted to get this up for Mother's Day as well as I can't think of a better way to show the world my deep love for my Mom. Many of you folks in the Niagara Region (Ontario, Canada) know her personally and will appreciate a glimpse into her life before things got sad for her. That's the memories I want to leave you all with.

I know *Thanks Tobacco* made a lot of people cry from heart-wrenching sadness...now I hope I've created the antidote to that sadness with a video that is the complete opposite and if there are any tears, they will be happy tears.

I could go on and on about how much I love my Mom, but I think the video does a better job of saying what's in my heart. Thanks for reading this message and watching my beautiful Mom's video.

Take care and God Bless you all,
Aaron Gray