Wedding Anniversary

Today marks an important day in my mom's life. If she were with us, she would be celebrating her 32nd wedding anniversary. I don't know what it's like to grieve a spouse, but I'm sure this day is hard for my dad. Last year, I was more aware of the day because her last wedding anniversary was such a big deal. They made it to 30 years, which at the time was amazing. My mom was so sick, she had just gotten done with radiation, and we were beginning to be hopeful. We had gotten word that the tumor in her lungs had decreased like 40%. Wow! To celebrate, my parents made one final car trip to Gatlinburg to spend the weekend with their close friends in their cabin. My mom danced around with her walker and wore her monogrammed baseball cap on her bald head. These were friends that didn't care and loved her with all they had. A picture of her with these two ladies is hanging on my fridge. It's the last picture that was ever taken of her. I think we all got too scared to take pictures of her while she was sick, but I have two; and she's just as beautiful as she ever was. I keep them with me when I'm going through a tough time. This is stupid, but I even took my treasured polaroid to spin class when I first started to go. I'm not kidding it's a hard class. There were times when I felt like I could not simply make it. But I would occasionally glance at her face and think to myself .."Look at her. Her body went through so much pain with chemo, radiation and drugs....why can't I make it through this stupid spin class!" It got me through it. Now, it's not so tough. That's how her legacy lives on with me and she can still be an encouragement.