I am just realizing that this is exactly the anniversary of the time we scattered my mother's ashes five years ago. And I am returning to that location (several hours away) for an entirely different reason this weekend. So I will visit the old and abandoned cemetery where the scattering was done. It is a beautiful location, just on the edge of the farm where we grew up. The cemetery is very small with trees and some underbrush and is maintained, though not manicured (my mom wouldn't have liked that), by a church congregation some five miles away. The total effect is like a glade. I remember the day of the scattering: it was a crisp and bright day and the family stood in a circle holding hands and talking about Mom. The sun, broken up by the branches and leaves of the trees above us, reached our circle and warmed our thoughts and words.

Though I have only returned one other time to the cemetery, it is a place I can go to in my mind and feel a sense of peace and closeness with my mom.