"IN MEMORIUM: MOM, A ROSE LIKE NO OTHER"

Tiny droplets of water fill my lower lid. The view before me has become blurry and distorted as darkened silhouettes fill the room making it appear unfamiliar to me, but it shouldn't. This is my home. A place where I spent my childhood and now all the joy and happiness it gave me all those years had disappeared in an instant.

Finally, as if teetering on the edge of a steep cliff a tear breaks free making its way down my face leaving a narrow stream of glistening water in its path leading directly to my lips. The saltiness absorbed by my taste buds as my tongue wipes the traces of it away never to be seen again. Another tear barrels down my face taking another path unlike the previous one. It lands on my favourite black turtleneck erasing all evidence of what bears in the heart. The sorrow, shock and anger has consumed every inch of me that I sit in disbelief at this sudden turn of life changing events.

In December 2009, I suffered an enormous loss. My dear mother, Rose, whom was my rock, my best friend and my partner in crime, passed away suddenly and I have been grieving ever since. Scenes like the one above are none too familiar to me since crying had become a pastime. I couldn't go through a day without shedding a tear the last year. The fear of being alone in a big empty house scared the life out of me. We'd lost my dad in March of 2005 to cancer and now this. I was still grieving his loss and now hers? I felt a constant numbness, confusion and above all abandonment. How could she do this to me? How could they do this to me?

Grief is a very complex thing and it affects people in different ways. It has a way of consuming you if you're not careful. Many a time it brought me to a dark place especially in the first few months after her death. Luckily, I had a great support system with family, friends and my significant other whom I am so blessed to have in my life that lifted my spirits and made me feel whole again.

Now, a year later and I've slowly been picking up the pieces. I've had time to process everything and adjust to this new life without my mom (and dad). I miss her (them) dearly and think fondly about the memories that we made together. I haven't written a word in a year until now. I felt I couldn't express how I was feeling because as a writer it would make me vulnerable to my readers. Imagine that? In my heart, I know it is time to move on and continue on my own journey and make my own path in life a special one. As mom once said, "it's your time to shine." And shine I will. There are far too many stories to tell and I've only just begun to tell mine. Read more on this article...