It’s been five years since I lost my mom. I have survived the painful process of sorting and finding new homes for her belongings, although there was a time in which I doubted that I would. While she was good at editing her own possessions and didn’t leave the five of us kids with an overwhelming job, it was still very hard letting go of most of her familiar personal and household items.
With another Mother’s Day approaching, I’ve been thinking about my favorite keepsakes that help me continue to feel close to her.
Among them is a simple note that she attached to a birthday gift to me, dashed off in the years before Parkinson’s Disease claimed her beautiful handwriting. “Happy Birthday – Love You Forever, Mom.”
As a way of sharing this treasure, my sisters and I began a tradition of delivering this note to each other on our birthdays, along with a very small gift “from Mom.” It’s one of the highlights of our special days.
Such a small thing…certainly nothing that she would have assigned great value to herself. But it sure means the world to us lucky kids.
