Remembering Mom

When CWO issued a blogging challenge to blog about my favorite mom moment, I knew that I had to share a little more about my mom….

My parents divorced at a young age, so my mom was a single parent most of the time. We spent many great weekends with my dad, but mom was the day-to-day disciplinarian and care-giver. Fast forward many years… I’m now graduating from high school and heading off to college. I got really sick that first year and ended up having to come home from college. We knew that there was a purpose for everything, so we didn’t stress about it.

A few months later, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Thus began a series of chemo treatments and rough months after the surgery to remove the cancer. My mom always kept up her spirits though and unknowing reached out to others during this time. I later heard stories about how her outlook on life touched many lives.

Slowly, she started to lose the battle with cancer. She began to take care of everything that needed to be done, so we (my sister and I) wouldn’t have to deal with funeral arrangements or monetary issues after her passing. She wanted this time to be as easy as possible for us. But, the one thing that she couldn’t do that she and I had planned on her doing was making my wedding dress.

You see, my mom was a great seamstress and we had it all planned out. She was crushed when she had to tell me that she couldn’t do it. We shopped for the dress that had fit the criteria that we had set for her making my dress. It wasn’t easy, but she was there each step of the way.

When it started to look like she wasn’t going to make it to the wedding, one of her co-workers (and friends) offered to have a photographer come to our home to take wedding photos of all of us (my sister, mom, and I) together. So, even though she passed away before I actually said “I do”, she was still very much a part of the wedding.

Towards the end, my mom was not the same person, but she was holding on because she wanted to make it to my wedding and a few months later to my sister’s high school graduation. She was in pain and barely functioning, but she refused to let go until we told her it was ok. In her dying days, my mom was more focused on her kids than she was on herself.

We miss you mom and we thank you for all that you did for us.

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Darlene Schacht , Author of The Mom Complex.