Day 8

Happy birthday, Mom. I miss you so much I can hardly breathe. I never understood why you'd sit and cry when this song came on; I think now I do.

Missing

It's one of those nights when I sit and miss my mom. I miss her every day, with every breath I take; but I don't let myself just sit and really feel it very often. The sorrow is just kind of...always there...in the background. Nights like tonight, I long for her laughter, her voice telling me it's going to be all right.  And though I deeply believe she is still with me, that she still loves me, shares in my triumphs and pain...it isn't the same. Adjusting to a world without her has been (and continues to be) the hardest thing I have yet to do. Sometimes, I just have to take it day by day...or minute by minute.

I hope I can be the mom she always knew I could be. I think it's the times when I don't feel like I'm living up to expectations that I miss her the most. She was always my biggest fan, and she would cheer for me from the sidelines of my life. It's the times when I'm most weary, at my lowest, hardest on myself, that I really, really miss that.

I don't know that this post has much to do with adoption, except...Gee, I had a great mom! And  I was so incredibly lucky to have her as a mom! And...Gee...I hope someday my kids say that about me. Because I'm striving with everything I have to be to my kids, what my mom was (and still is) to me.