Charlotte

Passed away, in her sleep last night.

How did I get the news? Via an e-mail blast, of course.

Yesterday -- out of the blue -- I thought about her for a good while...and in my gut I knew it was because I wouldn't see her anymore. It's just the way things happen.

I thought of our drive to Woodstock two summers ago. How she slammed it at 80 miles an hour and when we reached her house, she made a sandwich for A.

A told her, "You're cool." Really? she said. "Yeah," said A.

I thought of the letters she wrote to help my campaign for the club. A copy is sitting in my drawer.

How she showed up to every "Save the Club" event I asked her to show up to.

Of the time we had dinner at Five Points and she talked about the African prince who tried to woo her.

How she hated Florida because there wasn't enough to do there. Boring. "I like New York better. There are more things happening here." She said this to me when she was 80 years young.

How she told me she still "talked" to Joey.

Of the times she worried that she would live to see last her remaining son die before she did.

Mama Ramone, rest in peace.