Today, my mother would have been 55. She passed away on my 17th birthday. She was very ill and she fought bravely right until the bitter end. That doesn’t mean that I was never angry at her for dying. I needed her at that age. Hell, I still do. I have several aunts and an awesome mother-in-law, but that’s not the same.

As I get closer to becoming the age she was when she died, I notice that I am a lot like her. I am afraid of what happens once I get past the age she was when she died. She was no angel by any means, but she’s irreplaceable. She brought me into this world.

I miss my mother a lot today. I miss her everyday.