2010 was the last year my mom was with us for Mother’s day. The memories of that day are both very good and very sad. We had gone to John’s Hopkins Hospital to visit her, I still remember the joy on her face when the kids and I walked in her room and said Happy Mother’s Day. I miss her terribly. There are days that the space left by her absence is almost impossible to get through.

Today is Mother’s Day 2016. Six years later and I am thousands of miles away from my kids. It feels strange. I know it is just a day and that the love they show is a daily thing but I have missed waking up to their sweet faces smiling at the pride in preparing a special breakfast and the thoughtful gifts. Often handmade and perfect!

The other thing I am missing today is that morning phone call from my dad and all the love and pride that spilled through the phone with his wish for a Happy Mother’s Day.

I am not complaining, just speaking to life’s changes and how we just never know from one day to the next who will be with us and who will not, where we will be, and what the circumstances are.

Treasure your family. Cling to those you love. Because, you just never know.