Today, August 18 th. my Mom died. She was only ill and in hospital for a very short time. There were days we cried together and days we laughed ... the best days were when we did both. Things were very peaceful and the palliative care folks listened to everthting Mom wanted and all was as pain free as possible. My tears are more for me because I am no one's "little girl" anymore. I know she is pain free and probably salmon fishing with my Dad somewhere. That makes me smile. I learned so much this week. One of the main things is that we should all stop that one extra moment to hug or kiss the ones we love. Those are the memories we keep forever.