Tomorrow is my daughter, Cherie’s birthday. She died six years ago in March. She was my youngest of four and the only girl. She knew me like no one else, and I knew her that way, too. We had been through hell with her addictions, incarcerations, betrayals, forgiveness, but understood each other’s pain like no one else could. I raised her two older children, taking them at 8 mos and 2 yrs when she went to prison. We drove and flew hundreds of miles to visit her so they could feel how much she loved them, more than she would ever love herself. She kept her quirky sense of humor, open tender heart towards others, often to her own detriment, and ached over her brothers rejection, due to her horrible mistakes.
I’m missing her so much today, more than usual, and can only feel that she is somehow nearer today to be with me on the day I became her mom. I love you, Cherie