love
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Another Year
Today is the 11th anniversary of my mom’s death and I’ve been grieving extra hard. In the past, I haven’t used this day to grieve her more than any other day. I haven’t really needed to. For some reason, I woke… Continue reading
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Your Side of My Story
Dear Mom, A couple of months ago, I was gifted a magical book called The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad. You would have absolutely loved this gem of a book, the writer, and most definitely her musician husband. It breaks my… Continue reading
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I Couldn’t Be Better
Dear Mom, Did you ever neglect to notice how good your life was because you were too busy worrying about what wasn’t perfect? Did you ever convince yourself that things could be better when in reality things were pretty great?… Continue reading
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What If I Had Asked for Help?
Dear Mom, For years, and I mean for all my life leading up to probably last week after my new therapist helped me open my eyes, I believed I had gotten away with it. I had pulled one over on… Continue reading
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Today is Going to Be Challenging
Dear Mom, I keep sitting down to write to you this week and I keep failing. I keep starting topics that go nowhere, and I keep giving up. At first, I thought maybe I simply ran out of things to… Continue reading
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A Little Magic
Dear Mom, Over the weekend we watched a movie about imaginary friends, and it sparked some truly magical conversations at dinner. We asked each other, what if we had imaginary friends? I could really visualize Scotland’s friend. Long curly hair… Continue reading
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Therapy Room
Dear Mom, I’ve been looking at your old journals again. I found an entry where you spoke about all the things you did during your day to keep your mind off your diagnosis. Particularly in the end after the tumor… Continue reading
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See You Next Time
Dear Mom, We did it. We went to Chicago. We had a wonderful visit, but I can’t seem to kick this feeling that I failed you. That it wasn’t enough. I dreamt of this trip to your city. Envisioned taking… Continue reading
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See You Soon
Dear Mom, I’m flying my kids to Chicago this week. It’s been a while since I’ve spent time in the city. Since I’ve come home. Chicago still feels like home to me. My birthplace. Your birthplace. Both of my kids… Continue reading
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Keeping Your Memory Alive
Dear Mom, I fear that I have failed you. Before you died, you asked us to never stop telling stories about you. It was, in my memory, your biggest dying wish. You wanted to make sure that your memory would… Continue reading
Sober Letters to Mom 