This Mother's Day

This is  a picture of my parents on their wedding day.

This  mother's day is a strange one for me.

My dad passed away 2 weeks ago and 1 week ago, my mother moved to an  assisted living community.

Most of the time, she thinks she is in Hawaii  (if you have to be someplace, that's a good place to be, I guess),  but  she also forgets that my dad has passed. 

Every day.

That is very difficult for my brother and his wife.  I don't live there, so I don't deal with it every day like they do.

The good thing is---she gets distracted very easily.

Show her a picture of a baby and she is all smiles and laughter.

She loves babies.

A few days after my dad passed away, I was lying in bed with her and she wanted to know the story of dad.

They grew up on the same block

They played hide and seek with the neighbor kids and hid together in a chicken coop when they were 10. Dad tried to kiss her and she turned her head away and he kissed the wall.

I went on like this for a while and then stopped thinking she had fallen asleep.

She hadn't... she said  "then what?"

I said,  you got married then and moved to California, where you had a baby...

My mom then said, in a really soft voice,  "a beautiful baby"

That baby was me.

and that makes me get tears in my eyes.

That is a short, short version of my parents story.

I love it.

We all have our stories---and I hope on this mother's day we can all realize how lucky we are to have had such stories.

I hope they make you smile today... memories of your mother.

Smile today---don't be sad.

God is good.

Even in  (especially in) this (sometimes difficult ) journey of life,

(but most times it's a beautiful journey.  I have to make that clear.

My mom, in her pre-dementia days, was the most optimistic person ever.  I want to hold to that in her honor.  And my dad's)