She loved Frank Sinatra, played the piano the way few can, smiled when I graduated from high school, then cried a day later when I left for college. When I was 20, she became sick almost overnight, complained of not feeling well and died two days later.

She had a profound influence in my life, though, the way she never gave up, showed unconditional love and preached to me to do the same.

On Mother’s Day, I think about my mom often, how she meant so much to so many, how she died too soon and how any time I do something I’m proud of, I wish she was there to see it.

Thinking of her also gives me a great adoration for all mothers, the ones who have a household filled with children, the ones who might have only one or two and the ones who are just now expecting.

Mothers give so much for their children and spend countless hours being there for them. Fathers do the same, but their day comes next month.

On this Mother’s Day, I thought I’d call my friend Jessica Daley. Jessica and I went to the same high school together, but really didn’t become close friends until our college days in Eugene, Ore.

She’s expecting her first child in September, a boy she’s named Cecil Thomas.

Jessica said that while she’s celebrated past Mother’s Days by giving cards, she has found a deeper meaning in it now, as a mother-to-be herself.

“I don’t think until this Mother’s Day, when I’m expecting, that I understood the magnitude of it,” she said. “It has a whole different feel and meaning.”

Jessica and I call about once a month, have the same taste in music and movies and both have a tendency to laugh at things most other people probably wouldn’t.

She’s going to make a great mother, primarily because she’s a good person to begin with, but also because she’ll have a good supporting cast to help her, including a solid group of family and friends.

“I think I’m a little bit of everything,” she said, when asked if she’s more nervous than excited.

Jessica was never supposed to have kids because of her medical history, but she’s well on her way to having a miracle this September.

When Cecil Thomas is born, it will be a win-win situation.

Jessica will have the child she always wanted, and her son will have a very cool mom to celebrate Mother’s Days with.