My mother passed away this week 2 years ago. She died of brain/lung cancer from smoking 2 packs a day for over 40 years. She died on mothers day and we buried her a week later, I was there in the hospice with my father and Alix joined us half way thru. Cancer is among the worst ways of dying (slow). This relates to what I miss/love about her, her;

1. unwavering persistence and relentlessness to get things DONE. If she wanted something she was going to get it. I wish I had that quality. She never stopped moving, always had to be doing something, anything.

2. her love for my father thru the bad times and good they stuck together having been married 40 years! It’s a rare thing to be married to one person for 40 years.

3. being a pessimist/realist. sounds weird but she taught me that life is NOT fair and life is full of things not good and for me to see things on many different levels. she wouldn’t sugarcoat most things, just give you the straight dope.

3.1 I can remember on summer days we would sit down on the back porch where she and I would eat our home grown/picked Tomatoes sliced and a salt shaker with a big glass of sun tea….just my mom and I talking about nothing.