GROSSMONT COLLEGE– Almost 20 years ago my mother was taken from this world. I now know that she is in a better and happier place preparing for her next life. I can only hope that we will be in each other’s lives in my next life. Every mother’s day brings a little bit of pain at her loss, but I do my best to remember the times I did have with her.

Considering I was nothing but a child when she passed on I have very few memories with and of her. The ones that I do have have stayed with me through the years. One of my favorite memories was the night my mother told me that she loved me for no other reason than I was the quiet one in the family.

It was another typical family dinner at home in the dining room. My siblings were vying for my mother’s attention. My step-father was watching whatever show was on the TV. I sat with my back to the TV quietly eating my dinner. My mother looked towards me, and watched for a few moments.

“Jenn,” she said. I looked up at her expectantly. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked in my direction. “You are the quiet one. I love that about you. Don’t ever change.”

I stared at her in shock. This is one of the few times that she singled me out at the dinner table. I wasn’t sure how to react. My family stared in my direction for a few moments and then my siblings started to vie for my mother’s attention again, and I sat quietly lost in thought as I finished my dinner.

I hold onto that memory whenever anything happens in my life, good or bad, because it reminds me that my mother loved me for who I was and nothing more. I feel that if she were alive today she would still love me for no other reason than I am who I am. My mother will always be with me in heart and spirit.

For all those who still have their mothers. I hope that you know what you have and treasure her as if today were the last day you will ever see her again. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

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Sanders is commentary editor of the GC Summit.  She may be contacted at [email protected]