First Mother's Day without Nana

May 9th, 2021. My first Mother’s Day without Nana. That holiday will never be the same. I’ve joined the ranks of having to wish my mother a Happy Mother’s Day in Heaven. All those Facebook posts with glowing candles and hearts for an angelic Mother are now my only options. I can’t post pictures of Nana and I with her Mother’s Day gifts of KitKats and M & M’s. No pictures of us enjoying a fish sandwich at The Fence in Lewisburg, PA. Not even a selfie with Nana and Sharon and I—Nana with her girls. Because now not only is Nana gone, Sharon is gone too. A heartbreaking Mother’s Day. What I’m left with are memories and photos. Sharon and I were both fanatic about taking photos to document our times with Nana. Sharon was the queen of selfies and I was happy she was so talented with her phone. Now all those photos and selfies are reminders of other happier Mother’s Day celebrations. The pandemic stole from us the last chance to have a Mother’s Day in person with Nana. We did our best with a Mother’s Day Zoom with Nana on that special day in 2020. But May 2019 was our last in-person celebration of Mother’s Day with Nana. We celebrated early because Jan and I were going on a cruise on Mother’s Day, but Nana never minded when we celebrated. She was always kind and grateful. Here’s some precious photos from years past:

It’s said that the first holidays after you lose a loved one are the worst. This first Mother’s Day without Nana—and without Sharon—was a painful and sad one. I’m not sure, but maybe it’ll get better. I’m so grateful for all the photos and memories we collected for so many years. But I’m so heartbroken that we have to have future Mother’s Days, Holidays and ALL future days without them.