Five Years - Seems Like Yesterday

My mom died five years ago today - which still seems unreal to write much less believe. She's missed so much and there's so much I've missed experiencing with her. She's missed all the crazy of our government, all the momentous changes in our world, all the times our friends and family needed to feel her calm, her caring, her love, and all the changes in her granddaughter, Tessa. She's also missed all the little things - all the books she didn't get to read, all the times it snowed for the first time, all the times she'd spot the first Robin of the season, "Hello Mr. Robin red breast," she'd stop and say and of course, all the doughnuts - her absolute favorite - she's missed out on. 

Like any child who has lost a parent I have good days and bad days. I know how lucky I was to have her for so long but that doesn't make me miss her any less. Today Frank and I went to her tree right on Lake Michigan. It has the absolute best view of the Chicago skyline. It was her kind of day, sunny and bright, a good wind, chilly but not too cold. We each had a doughnut and we just stayed with her for a while watching the area fill with families and strollers, runners and bikers and tourists taking selfies. She was right in the middle of all the action, life moving forward, happiness, sunshine - she would have loved it.