Lorna , Thank you for your lovely reply. There's so much here I want to respond to.

Yes, there are still questions and I know I will always find things I wish I had asked. I guess there is no way she could have lived long enough to eliminate all the questions! I am sorry you lost your mother so young. You certainly didn't know to have those kinds of conversations where you asked things you thought you would want to know.

I love that you take a day just for yourself each year. I suppose it is her death date? Or maybe her birthday? I like that idea and may plan something for next year for myself. It does not seem weird at all that you feel she is still with you. I think that is the sign of a powerful love.

I love the idea of your mum and my mum and all the other lovely ladies meeting and talking knitting and quilting and books and having a cuppa. My mom was quite the Anglophile. She loved the British and especially loved their understated but hilarious sense of humor and comic timing. What fun she would have with your mom.

I like the idea of mom sending fireflies, and butterflies, too. A perfect Monarch floated across my garden this week and I impulsively said "Hello Mama."

Thank you for encouraging me to be kind to myself. I am spending a lot of time just sitting and staring and this seems to be what I need right now - time to just "be". I am fortunate I have the luxury of giving myself that time. And I have a lovely husband who is being all the things I need him to be.

Thank you again for your sweet response. It brought me a measure of comfort. ♥♥♥