Mom died. At around 4:15 pm. Dad and my oldest sister was w/her.

Why do I remember her and miss her do deeply? I was 18. At the time she died, I was working and they did not want to come to work to tell me. So, I got home to a somber house...Dad gave me the news. He was standing at the top of the stairs and said, "She's gone".

Even though she was sick for a few years, and bed-ridden since the day before my high school graduation, (she could not attend), she was still "there". It was so hard to see her in pain. A strong woman...ALWAYS there for her four children and husband. So many loved her for her whit, great sense of humor and just the way she made friends. I want to believe I am like her.

Here I am at 51 years old and still crying for my mother. She left me at an age when I was just not ready for her to be gone. I need, and still need, her to "raise" me. The be the adult woman that she was. Although she was 9 days short of her 43rd birthday, she was 'mature' to me. Well, I guess after having had four children and married over 20 years by then, that does mature a woman!

But I miss her so much. I know Dad does, too. Even though he's remarried for nearly 28 years now. She's NOT MY MOMMA!!