My Forever Love...

 

She would have been 84 today. We were both teenagers in these pictures, roughly the same age having very different teenage experiences. I was very loved. I thank God for making her my Mom not long after this picture is taken. By 17, she is married and soon after the Mother of five stairstep children. She passed away at 45. I have outlived her lifespan by 20 years already. Life is so unpredictable. You just never know what your fate will be.

Death is more prevalent in my life now than I would prefer. Phone calls from distant or disconnected family members or friends, trigger me to brace for bad news. Recently, I signed into Facebook and within an hour, four people had posted notices of loved ones passing. It is inevitable, the longer we live, the more reality is our loss of loved ones. Somehow we learn to live with the loss but it creates a void in us that is never quite filled, especially if the person was a good person. My Mother was a good person. Not only as a Mother, but as a friend, a sister, a neighbor, a daughter. She was just a kind, loving, giving, all around good person. 

I wake up today on November 25th, as I do many mornings, with my Mother on my mind and I wonder what she would be like all these years later. How different would my life be if she was still here? Things I will never know... She was my rock, my forever inspiration, my loudest, unapologetic, and most boastful, cheerleader. She was my Mother and my friend. 

I cannot imagine life with a bad Mom. I feel for those who unfortunately didn't have good relationships with their Mother. I didn't have a good relationship with my father, so I kind of understand. I will never know what it's like to be a Daddy's Girl and I do not undermine the joy and value of that relationship at all. I actually envy it, as it, too, is a void in my life. Still, there seems something different about not having the love of your Mom, the person who gave you life. I just cannot imagine...

Today would have been my Mom's 84th birthday. I wish her a happy birthday wherever her spirit might be, it certainly continues to live within me.

Call your Mama today. Call her because you can and because you don't know what tomorrow brings. If you can't call your own Mama, call somebody else's Mama who has been a positive influence in your life or a matriarch who will be uplifted by the mere sound of your voice. It's the little things. Truly, it is...

Happy Birthday Mommy! Your FOREVER Daughter will love you ALWAYS and FOREVER MORE!!! 🫶🏿