Michael, 5 years ago (in a few days) my mom died at 62, unexpectedly from blood clotting. My nephew (3 at the time, died the year before when he got out of the car by himself and ran into the road). This happened within 2 days of that date.....I am talking about OCTOBER 30TH. My sister, whom I love very much cursed God for letting this happen. When my mom died, I KNOW that I was not the best son either (must be a biker thing right??) we actually were right for the last 3 years and I thank God for that!!
Some folks have given great guidance on the healing process in here, but I don't see anyone as of yet talking about God's plan. If you or anyone that reads this post is not a believer, please do not take offense, I am only sharing with you the love I have personally experianced as a grown man in times of hearache, pain, war, my recent motorcycle accident that has left me temporarily crippled, and even in times of joy....I'm not talking about his judgement, the need for a person hurting to look inwardly, or the stupid idea that somehow this could be your fault. I am talking about the fact that we do not know God's plan, but we can be at peace, as we DO know that he has given us the ability to grieve and for that pain to pass. As I said to someone recently in a different post, only time will heal the pain that you all feel today.....over time there will be good and bad days, but rest assured that in HIS time the pain will subside and in it's place, wonderful memories celebrating your mom will embrace you in the most unique and unusual ways......celebrate the life of mom, don't use the date of her passing or her birth as a holiday or sorts where you become bitter or judgemental because of the loss.....this has happened with my sister and it has clouded her ability to realize that in the death of her son, she and her husband were lead to the decision to again have kids and they were blessed with a boy and a girl.....something that never would have come had Zach not passed. We can't presume to know or ever understand why either of our moms passed at such a young age, but we can relish in the fact that the good days will always touch us in ways we never expect!