This should be about a celebration since Mother’s Day was on Sunday. However, it’s not going to start off as such. May 7th is my grandmother’s birthday and she’s been gone for almost two years. It still hurts but I’ve been taking it one day at a time. See, the thing about losing someone is that you just learn to live without them and it sucks. To go from seeing her two to three times a week to not seeing her at all is one of the worst feelings ever. I’ve had relatives pass before but I’d never felt like my world had just completely shattered.

When she passed, I just didn’t know what to do. It’s like my whole body was numb. She was a part of my routine. She put together a family and she was the matriarch. My mom and aunt were her daughters and their children were the grandchildren. There were four of us and I was the oldest. Everyone had their responsibilities. It was automatic that I went to see her and make sure that she had everything that she needed. I could be doing my homework and she would be sitting in her chair, watching Steve Harvey then she’d ask me, “Sweetheart, can you do me a favor?” Absolutely! And there would be no hesitation at all. I loved her that much. My homework could wait. If I had to walk to Kroger in the rain, I would and I probably did at least once. I would do it again too. She always made sure that we were covered.

Any time we would have a holiday, we would have a gathering at her house. She’d write out a list of things we needed for our get together and we’d go get it. We’d all sit around in the cramped living room and tell stories about our day or week. She’d tell us stories about her past and always kept it real with us and we’d go back to laughing about nothing. I remember when she would sometime fall asleep in her chair and I’d giggle. She would ask me if I was laughing at her with a grin on her face before she started giggling too.

I really miss those days and it’s the little things that create the bigger picture. So, as Mother’s Day approaches, please tell your mother, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, and anyone else that I may have left out, Happy Mother’s Day. Tell them how much you appreciate them. Thank them. They carried you for longer than nine months. They’ve watched you sleep. No matter how exhausted they were, they made sure you were taken care of because your needs came before theirs. Even something as simple as a phone call with let them know that you care. Please, please, please, cherish the time that you spend with your loved ones because you never know when God will call someone home.

With that being said, I would like to thank my mother for bringing me into this world and for continuing to love me through all the good times and the bad ones. We're closer now than ever and I pray we only continue to grow from here.I would also like to thank the many mothers that have entered my life at different points in time and who all keep me line. Mama Robin, who inducted me into her family forever ago; Mama Josey, who needed another daughter; Mama Janeen, for being my godmother and my Pastor; Momma Lizzie, who calls me the daughter she never had; and Mommy Fet'Hanie, when I was at the right place at the right time with her bubbly personality. Thank you and I love you because it really does take a village to raise a child.