This day...

In loving memory of my Mother

 

Karen Elizabeth Hickman June 6, 1956- December 20th, 1992

There are times when I look in the mirror and it is as if I am seeing her face, and times when I say something and it is if I am hearing her voice. The pain of losing her is both soothed and yet still fresh. She died when I was 14 after a two year battle with cancer.  She was 36. 

I knew her only as my mother, not as a peer.  We never talked about what it was like to have babies, to have a fight with our husbands, how she made perfect Yorkshire Pudding, the best way to balance work and mothering, how to get ketchup stains out of shirts, or how to apply eyeliner.  For as much that has been missed between the two of us, I am thankful for the memories that I have of her.  Sometimes, out of fear that I might forget something about her, I run through what I do remember in my mind- like a child would practice their multiplication tables.  Whenever I visit the department store I wander by the Estee Lauder counter and smell the perfumes she used to wear.  There are even funny moments when I look at my daughter Hannah and see a twinkle of my mother's smile shinning through.

In spite of all these things, I will never be able to forget how much I love her and how much she loved me.  Thank you God for the promise of Eternity.