Gypsy Soul

One month ago today my mother passed away.  It's been the most difficult thing my sisters & I have ever gone through.  Surreal really on so many levels.  Having never lost someone in my adult life I realized all the things people say are true...nothing can prepare you for it!  Most days I feel as if a fog is surrounding me keeping my thoughts unclear and my actions hesitant.  But I have had one realization over the past weeks.  I woke up thinking about it today and decided to share...

Like all of us, my mother was flawed.  She lived life on her own terms.  Her free spirit (or Gypsy Soul) was probably her biggest strength and her biggest weakness.  A characteristic I would generally respect in another woman but as her child I struggled with it my whole life...until now.  You see I realized since receiving the news that awful day - all her faults, all the bad memories, they've been quieted and seem inconsequential.  I'm sure they are not gone for good but ultimately it made me realize just how important the here & now are and the memories I hold most dear are the treasured good...

Van Morrison said it best in 'These are The Days'..."there is no past, there's only future, there's only here, there's only now"...

All of these photos are so precious to me but the one below shows where my love of animals came from!  From one cat woman to another :)

Mom, I Love You...