You would think that after eleven years I’d be over the worst of it. I would anyways. It’s some kind of freak phenomenon where I mourn in reverse. I was so strong when she died, I don’t think I cried that much after that day. And I have been able to recall, to share, without breaking down for years. But these days… I don’t know. It’s like… Like she’s here, trying to tell me something I worked hard to forget. I want to hear her voice. I hear her voice. I want her to be here with me, being the mom she never really was, but that I so desperately needed. Need. I’ve been teased before about my liking older men, something about me looking for a father figure. That might’ve been true a long time ago, but lately I have experienced emotions that led to thoughts I never let myself explore further. Time, life and compromise has helped my dad and I mend our relationship. I don’t know if that would’ve happened with her. I’m not killing myself with the regrets, the what-ifs, I’m simply overwhelmed by an immense sense of loss, a loneliness that is completely new, unknown in its nature, its provenance. Why now? Why does she come up in conversation, why do I stumble upon one of her notebooks while going through my own, why do I see her reflection when I look at mine? I’ve fought so hard not to be like her, not to be her. The fears are gone, I am me, completely. And I wonder if it’s because of that that she’s making this sudden come back. I’ve let a lot of guards down, I’ve opened up, secure in who I am, who I’ve become. Not so far removed from the woman she could have been had she chosen a few different paths maybe. But overall… I could turn this over this way and that way, pry open the memory chest, cry over old birthday cards, but it won’t do any good. I don’t understand why it’s happening now, or how long it will last. But I guess I just miss having a mom. And everything that comes with it.