A mom's hug last long after she lets go.~Author Unknown

This past weekend my mom would have been 73.

I lost my mother before my children were born which is a blessing and also a loss.  I saw a different kind of pain on my sisters faces with the loss of my mother.  They were sad having lost their mother but they also had to watch their children loose their MomMom....they knew what life was like having our mom in their children's lives and also had the realization that that was gone.

I only had to deal with my loss but on the flip side of that is the sadness that even if my children only new her briefly their lives would have been so blessed from it.

My children have no memories of having their Mom Mom make them Halloween costumes or baby quilts. They never had her take them to the ocean and give them an entire lesson on marine life in such a way that they didn't even know they were learning.

I have certainly not lived the past 13 years feeling sorry for myself but our social worker touched on the loss of my mom a great deal and it has gotten me thinking a lot on it lately.

I AM missing so much.  I see friends have their mom's come for a visit, I see a mom, grandma and child at the library, at the park and on vacations.  It makes me wonder how my life would be different.

My mom is gone but not really.  We are her legacy....and hopefully we can live our lives as a reflection of what she was and what she taught us.

My mom was an amazing woman.  She reflected God's love, she could work a full time job come home make a completely meal from scratch, work on her lesson plans for school, weed her garden, and have time to work on a quilt all in one day.

I know I will never measure up but I hope I can spend my life trying.

I found a little book she made me when I was little that taught me to tie, button, zip, etc........

Learn to tie

Learn to Button

Learn to buckle