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There was such complexity behind that simple smile that I only got to fully embrace late in life, but an eternally grateful for. It's not like we didn't get along before that, because we did. I just never took the time to really know who she was, and I don't recalled her offering as well.
That started after my father passed in the early 1990's, and I would visit her most weekends to do "man-chores" like mow the lawn, fix things, etc. It was around that time that I gave her the first computer she ever had. She had an impish curiosity that was endearing. I started her with games, and as she became comfortable, moved her to word processing. She had a grand time with all of it.
Fast forward a decade or so, and I became her power of attorney as dementia set in, which turned into Alzheimer's. I truly relished all of the years we had late in life.
As for the rest of the story, I can tell you that my parents were immigrants, displaced after World War II, who settled in America seventy years ago. They both worked until children arrived, then mom mostly stayed at home. I remember how caring she was, and how she tried her best to create a loving home. One of her greatest achievements was getting a GED, the equivalent of a high school diploma. Later in life, she took full time employment and received accolades for her perfectionism and skills in producing microelectronic circuitry.
All of my aunts had dessert specialties they were known for. Mom's was apple streusel. She would labor for hours, rolling out the thin layers of dough across our entire dining table, then carefully layer it with filling. We would devour it so fast, that she threatened to stop making it if we didn't make it last. At the same time, I don't recall her trying to stop us either!
There are genetic and social dispositions of mine that I can trace directly back to her. Some good, some not. We were able to talk about and grow from them late in her life as we became kindred spirits.