My mom showed up in my dream last night……..wearing her classic red and white blouse under a navy-blue suit……..her hair like usual, simple and sophisticated……..her smile warm and confident……..she stood there looking at me just for a moment, then she was gone.

I miss her so much and I am so grateful that I get glimpses of her in my dreams. I miss her guidance, her gentleness, her wisdom…… and her hugs.

Cherish your mothers, no matter how nosy or controlling or messy or weird or unfair they seem….. you’ll never get another one.

All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.

- Joseph Epstein