I'm spending a lot of time these past few of days in particular thinking about my mom, as it was on this day in 2003 that she died of a stroke, which was a complication of her breast cancer. Since its release, the Green Day song
Wake Me Up When September Ends has pretty well summed up my feelings about this anniversary, but I was surprised when I recently learned that the song is apparently about Billy Joe Armstrong losing his dad to cancer, and not about 9/11 as I had thought, so I am not actually reinterpreting the lyrics. And since my mom died in 2003, one line is particularly fitting: "seven years has gone so fast... wake me up when September ends." Anyway, I've learned to try and be positive about the whole thing, and focus on remembering what a wonderful person and what a great mom she was, which is as it should be. I'll also again use the occasion to suggest calling your folks if they are still around, because, as I've said before, my mom would have really liked that.
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