[bettyeanne]

As some of you know [and a lot of you don't], my precious Mother has been in very poor health for some years now. About the last three years she has been in constant pain ... we lost her on July 18 [just 10 days after her 90th birthday and on the day that my Toto turned 3 years]. I cannot tell you how lost and empty I feel. Even though I know that she is no longer suffering and I know that sweet, gentle soul is finally happy with my Daddy in heaven ... I still have those moments when I am so selfish that I can hardly stand it. I just want her back and it's so strange, at those moments, I can hear her voice as plain as anything I have ever heard ... "You are my good child", she would tell me. I hear it every time I face a difficult decision in finalizing all those things that must be done ... and knowing that is the reason she chose me for these tasks. It's difficult to carry out her wishes and to be civil to those who broke her heart ... but, I was raised by two of the most wonderful parents in the world and ... I can do this!!

For those of you who still have one or both your parents ... never, ever miss an opportunity to hug them and tell them that you love them. In their twilight years they feel so "unnecessary" and it's up to us to make them feel like the most important person in our lives ... because they are!