My dear mom, Linda Johnson Cornell, passed away a week ago Sunday, September 16.

I am grateful that my relationship with her feels clear and clean. She knows I love her, and I know she loves me. There was nothing left unsaid. At the same time, I’m not sure that I can describe the pain that I feel in losing her presence in this physical world.

And that comes in waves followed by immense gratitude for her life, for her gifts to me, and an awareness of her journey into freedom and light.

This photo was taken two years ago at the retirement center where she lived in Everett, Washington, as she rode on an exercise bike!

Click here to see more photos of my beautiful mom, to read my remembrance, or to leave a comment. I’d love to hear your own experience of grief and mother-love!

One of the commenters so far called losing her mom “both heartbreaking and an unexpected and powerful rite of passage.” I agree!