Thread by @owillis

Last night I dreamt my mom came to my house to surprise me for my birthday.

I could see every inch of her face illuminated by the birthday candle lights.

I was so happy, I grabbed her and held her tight and yelled, "My Mommy!"

For a brief, fleeting moment, I forgot.

Every time we left each other, my Mom and I said, "love you." When she was gone, I never had any questions in my mind about her love for me or vice versa. If you can, I encourage you to do that with the people you love. You never know when you won't get to do it again.

Mom always made a big deal of my birthday. For the last one we had together when I turned 37, she and my aunt surprised me. She got me a Superman cake and they got Superman decorations. This was in the depth of her illness, often in the hospital, on dialysis and all of it.

It's probably the day I miss her most, next to Christmas. She was always the first to tell my "happy birthday," and would call me early at some ungodly hour to make sure she was the first. 5 years in and it still weird not to get that call on December 6.

When I was younger Mom used to make me wear a suit for my birthday. Moms are weird, man.