happy birthday mom wherever you are

Almost two months since you passed. You would have been 76 today. I still catch myself looking at the phone as I think of calling you - but I don't reach for it...We would have spoken already this morning. Perhaps we would have firmed up that dinner out at the Anchor Inn for some shrimp. Or maybe I would have brought your secret recipe "seafood yuk" over and we would have shared a meal with a cat or two in our laps. I would have called you "Old woman" and told you you looked like your dad. Especially your hair. And I would have suggested we take you to get those lavender highlights in it. You would have responded by telling me you still wanted a yellow rose tattoo on your leg. But like the rare dreams I now have of you in the hours before dawn - our conversations are kept in my heart. You are pictures and memories and in this moment I still wait for the day when your legacy doesn't make me ache. I miss you mom.