Mom
This is my beautiful Mother. Three weeks after she died I remember sitting in a bible study while each woman introduced herself. My turn came. My grief spilled out that my mom had just died. An elderly woman, thinking she was offering me comfort spoke, "God knew you didn't need her anymore." Almost fourteen years later I have never stopped feeling like I've needed my mom. The mother-daughter relationship always has seemed like a push-pull one to me. Sometimes I would want the warm, nurturing words and presence of my mom when I was growing up. Sometimes I would repel her intrusion, seeking to come into my own. Be a "big girl". I'll never forget when my parents drove me in the dead of winter to college. It was January in upper Michigan. We took two cars to carry all my things, my dad in the lead and my mom and me following close behind. And I do mean close behind because for hours we drove in treacherous weather. White-out driving. My mom's knuck...