2 Years

This month marks the 2 year anniversary of the passing of my Mom. While these past 2 years seemed to have flown by at the same time it seems so long ago! My Mom was a loving Mom, Wife, Mother-in-Law and devoted Grandmother. She touched so many with her care, concern, love and unselfish ways. She was a Mom with a great sense of humor, she loved to ice skate, dance and sing! She loved the winter days, especially ones with sparkling white snow, a reminder of days growing up in her beloved Lake Placid, NY.

I have replayed this last week two years ago leading up to today in my mind at least a hundred times. Every laugh we shared, every meal we ate together, every conversation we had, every little last thing. True to the way my Mom was, our last conversation centered on me traveling safe as I prepared to head out of town. No doubt her keeping the way she was feeling under wraps so that I did not change my travel plans. Those were the last words I heard my Mother speak. While I continue to talk to my Mom every day I don’t get to hear her words of reply but I know that she is listening to my conversations, my prayers and my exchange of thoughts with her. I see the reply in the form of a beautiful sunset, a snowy day, the sight of a bright red cardinal, the rays of sun streaming down on my drive home, the feel of a gentle hand upon my shoulder in times of need.

Grief in the loss of one so loved takes on many forms and works its way through you in no determined amount of time. I still grieve that I do not have my Mom here on Earth with me to celebrate life’s ups and downs, to share the good and bad, to laugh and cry. But I can celebrate her life in a way that pays respect to the way she lived her life. I look for the subtle signs that she is still here with me, watching over my family, they are not hard to discover! I am blessed to have a loving family and will take the time every day to let them know how I feel about them. Life is too short not to celebrate the good!

“Those we love remain with us for love itself lives on, and cherished memories never fade because a loved one's gone. Those we love can never be more than a thought apart, far as long as there is memory, they'll live on in the heart.” by Mary Alice Ramish