MY DAD, MY TWO SISTERS, AND I LOADED UP THE CAR.
I had just finished my freshman year, and my sister Darcey, her senior year, at the same college. My mom had not been well, but she cheerfully sent the rest of our family to attend Darcey's graduation. Soon after the ceremony, during which Darcey was honored as class valedictorian, I met my dad outside my dorm room. With tears in his eyes, he gently told me that he had received the phone call right before graduation that my mom had passed away suddenly. To everyone in my family, this news was crushing and felt almost impossible to take. But we collectively decided to support each other and to find comfort in prayer rather than wallow in grief.
I went home for a week to pack for summer camp, as scheduled. During that week, sometimes I felt my mom's absence like a punch to the gut when I realized that I could never talk to her again, or that she wouldn't be there at Darcey's wedding in the fall. Sometimes I just noticed a sad little silence in the air or an empty chair where she used to sit. During these moments, I turned my thought from sadness to gratitude. I found that if I focused on what I loved about my mom rather than what I missed about her, I could find peace and joy even though she was no longer with me.
