This writer has been putting off this article for a couple of weeks. The nature of it brings memories and some emotions that are not necessarily fun to experience. The viewpoint of the past has changed in this writer’s mind in the last few years. Experience and some training has brought a different perspective. Before this realization, the past was viewed as something to fixate on and to rekindle emotions that, frankly, were better left in the past.

The new perspective is that the past certainly has played a part in who a person becomes but it does not have to define a person.

In other words, the past has shaped our lives, but it does not have to control our lives. Each of us makes choices of how to live our lives.

Our current choices of behavior impact our present and future, but not our past.

So the memories that have surfaced recently concern my mother. She passed from this life in March of 2023. Why is she coming to mind recently, you may wonder? That happened due to her birth date falling on November 2nd. Her spouse of many years, my father, celebrates his birthday this Sunday, November 9th. Memories of my mother have been on my mind. All the emotions: sadness, grief, and loss for sure. However, it does not end there. I am choosing to also think of the joy, love, care, compassion, and nurturing my mother gave me while on this earth.

So, instead of saying goodbye to my mother all over again, I am saying hello to her legacy, to her life. I was blessed to know her, to laugh and play games with her, to enjoy her cooking, her wisecracks, and her faith.

As I am completing this article, my eyes are filling with tears, but my heart is full of love.. My hope and prayer is that this article helps someone who may be suffering from grief at times. Memories made today will someday be shared by those that we leave behind.

Make as many as you can, while you can. One day, those will be what your loved ones will have of you. Thank you, Mom