Dear Mom,

Hi, Mom. It's been a while. I'm just writing to do the normal things. Say hello, tell you I love you, etc. OH! I have one other thing to do.

I'm here to apologize. It's been too long, and I need to do it.

You called me the night before. You were kind, sweet, caring. You asked me how my day was, you told me you loved me, told me you were proud of me. You talked to me for about an hour trying to get an actual conversation going. But I wasn't listening. I was "too busy." I was on auto pilot, just responding every way I knew I should. I just figured you were gonna call again later, I'll talk to you then.

I never got that chance. You were gone the next day. I'll never get that phone call.

As Dad told me what had happened, you'd been sick, he'd gone to work, came back and you were...gone. You'd left sometime in that period. We didn't know how, we didn't know why, we just knew you were gone. As I called my sister to let her know, I couldn't stop thinking about how I should've stayed on the phone. Every day I wish I hadn't made that mistake. But I can't change that.

All I can do is say I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have acted like that. I should have talked to you. I should've told you how much I love you, how much I needed you. How hard it's going to be to live when you're gone. Hopefully, you know all this now. But I still have to say it. I still have to let you know. I love you mom. I miss you more and more every day. I will never forget you. So, I guess to summarize... Hi, Mom. I love you. I miss you.

I'm sorry.

Love your son,

Wes