The Death of My Mother

The Death of my Mother

It is amazing how many things we take for granted. We make plans for the day, and do not think twice about how those plans can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I never thought much about it myself, until I was faced with the shock, and undeniable truth of my mother's death. I do not think anyone really thinks about tragedy until they are actually faced with shocking news.

My mom had been living in Petersburg with my brother and sister. She had been living there for a while, and although I did not want to live with her, I still wanted to spend some time with her. She had suggested that I go home with her and we would go shopping, to the movies and just spend time together. I had been feeling pretty sorry for myself since I did not to get to see her that much. I was really excited to have a weekend with my mom to myself.

It was a warm October in 1999. I woke up Friday morning excited for the day I was going to spend with my mom. I went to school as I normally would, and when I got home I sat outside with my dad waiting for her to come and get me. My aunt stuck her head out the door and called for my father to come into the house. When he came back out he was crying; he looked at me and said "Your mother was in a car accident and died." Then he walked away from me leaving me there all alone. I had no reaction at first and I wanted to deny it, all of it. I kept saying to myself, "It is not true." "They made a mistake." To my complete horror, I was wrong.

We were all trying to figure out what to do for the funeral. We realized that the funeral should be held in Old Fields where my mother had grown up. The best and worst part of the day was when they got the pictures of her throughout her life. One minute we were laughing at the food on her face when she was a baby and the next we were crying about how beautiful she was.

A few days later when we were getting ready for the memorial service I managed to keep my cool until I realized why I was seeing these familiar faces. I remembered back to the last time I was had seen my whole family together at my great-grandmother's house for 4th of July. Once the service started I managed to keep my emotions intact until I saw my grandmother , grandfather, my aunt, uncle, and cousins go up to the front of the church to speak about her. I couldn't even look up at them because I thought about how I would feel in the same situation. When they played the song "The Rose," I couldn't control myself because it was her favorite song and flower. That's when it finally hit me that I would never see my mother again.

Your life can change drastically at any moment. Don't take life or the people that you love for granted because you're only here once. Losing my mother at such a young age has taught me that living every day intentionally and purposefully