Sooner Rather Than Later

It occurs to me that in all my writing my Mom shows up a good bit. It also occurs to me that I haven't mentioned one person who is very special to me quite as often.

When Mom died I was fortunate enough to have another woman waiting in the wings. Dale, my extra Mom, has been in my life since I was 7, and was married to my father when the rug got yanked out from under me 31 years ago.

When I read the last entry I made, which was on my Mom, I realized that I didn't want to be writing about someone important to me in past tense. I was overwhelmed with the desire to write about her while she's here, while she can read it, while she can appreciate and know how very integral and special she has been in my life.

It took me a while to shift gears, and adjust to a different style. As I adjusted I began to see the passion, and fierce love that resides behind the quiet. I saw a woman who chooses her words carefully, someone who will sit and listen until you run out of things to say, a person who will give you space or be at your side whenever you ask.

Some people go their whole lives without the kind of love I've experienced in my life, and every now and then it's good to remind myself how fortunate I am. So, in writing this entry I'm truly blessed to have had two extraordinary women to fill the role of "Mom".

This is the first, but it will not be the last on my extra Mom, Dale.