September 22

Today has been a relatively quiet day.  I think we needed the relaxation after yesterday's full-day outing.  But with relaxation comes thinking, and my thoughts today have been on one thing. 

I blogged recently about September 11, and how my perspective changed after that day.  On a more personal note, though, today, September 22, is one that will never be the same for me.  Today marks three years since Jason's mom, Darlene, passed away. 

Occasionally, I go back and read previous blog posts.  Usually, I look back at one from a year earlier, and I am surprised at how much has changed in a year.  Today, I was surprised at how much has stayed the same.  Today, I could have written the words from last year's post exactly.

I do have some thoughts from today that I'd like to share, too. 

Darlene,

We miss you now as much as ever.  We talk about you a lot, and we've shown Kyran and Karyssa pictures and videos of you.  Since they can't know you here on this earth, we will be sure they know who you were and will look forward to the day that they can meet you face-to-face. 

Jason and I miss your wisdom about marriage.  You and Tom surely knew the secrets of trust, faith, unconditional love, compromise, and thinking of each other first. 

We miss the grandmother that you were.  Even before Jason and I met, you thought of them, wished for them, prayed for them. 

We miss you as a mother.  I swore that I would never call anyone else mom.  My mother was my mom, and as much as I might love a mother-in-law, she would never be the same.  I was wrong.  You were so much more than just a mother-in-law to me, and I called you "mom" on several occasions. 

We miss your beauty, inside and out, your strength, your kind heart, your gentle voice, your strong will, your unwavering faith, your smile, your laughter and your embrace.  We miss you and love you, always!