William Anthony Cobb (WAC): All of my friends know me to be outspoken. People think that I got that in graduate school, but it’s genetic–(laughs) because you were prone to some long-winded debates about everything as we were growing up.

Mary Cobb (MC): I remember telling you, ”You should be able to talk to a person in the Bowery as well as to the President of the United States. Then you can say that you are a well-rounded, well-educated person.”

WAC: One of the things that I remember most is when I finished my doctorate. Everyone was getting their degrees, and you were I think about ten rows up.

MC: It was like, what? About 4,000 people there?

WAC: It was a lot of people there.

MC: And only my son gets up and walks down the middle of the aisle. I didn’t know why you got up, and I said, ”Oh my God, I hope he doesn’t have to go to the bathroom!”(Laughs)

WAC: But I gave my degree to the woman and I told her to pass it back, and another one passed it back, and passed it back until it got to you.

MC: That was one of the most important moments in my life. I was ten feet tall.

WAC: You never gave it back anyway. (Laughs)

MC: Of course I wasn’t going to give it back! You lose things, remember?

WAC: Mmm-hmm.

MC: You lost your birth certificate about 20 times while you were in college. (Laughs)

WAC: So, you have pancreatic cancer–

MC: Yes.

WAC: And it’s the same cancer that our father died of 17 years ago. When your doctor came to tell you that they couldn’t cure it, the first thing you did was, uh, reach out to make sure that me and Valerie were OK.

MC: Well, in case you didn’t know, I kind of love you guys (laughs). And just think, I’m gonna be in Heaven with your dad. He’s gonna say, ”Now Mary–everything was fine until you got here.” (Both laugh)

MC: I’m not afraid of dying. But I did say to the Lord, ”I don’t want to leave my children.” Well, he’s answering my prayer. I’m here. I feel a closeness to you, Anthony, that I haven’t felt in a long time. You actually let me know that you love me. You’re right there with my coffee every morning. You’re there if I wake up during the night, and I love you for that. I’m just so blessed. (MUSIC)

William Anthony Cobb (WAC): This is William Anthony Cobb. Ma passed away in February, and I’m here with my sister, Valerie, to remember her. Our mother’s home was destroyed by the tornado in Alabama on April 27th, and what occurred to me was that as painful as it was for Ma to go of cancer, it was better than what would have happened if she had been in that house.

Valerie Foster (VF): You know, this is my first Mother’s Day that I don’t have a mother. This is gonna be a rough day, you know, not being able to call her, send her some flower. But, you know, as with everything else since her diagnosis, we get through it together. We get through it together.