If there's 'anything' or 'anyone' I really miss in this world, I would have to say it's my Mom.
My Mom was a very special person, as I'm sure most of ours were or are.
Those of you who still have your Moms, are very Blessed.
She was very talented and could have done anything with her life, but she loved her kids ( me and my older brother ), so she put all her talents aside to raise us, and to take care of a home and the two men she married during the course of her life.
To say that I was an easy child to raise would be ... well...a lie.
Anyone who knows me, knows what a basket full of fun I am.
I was a rebellious child but through the years my Mom and I went from being adversaries to the best of friends.
My Mom left her body in 2005. I've never considered her gone or dead.
I know that she's still here, just not the way I want her to be.
I was her caretaker as she was transitioning, and in order for me to care for her and follow her wishes, I had to mourn her before she even left.
I remember driving home from the gym one day, and I realized the World wasn't stopping for me and my horrible situation. Everyone around me was carrying on with their lives, and I was going through this surreal, spiritual, transformation that no one else would understand unless they were going through it themselves.
I mean when the doctors told me my Mom had cancer, and had maybe 4-6 months to a year if treatment went well, I literally slumped to the floor.
It was like someone had kicked me in the stomach.
I couldn't breathe.
I'd never felt anything so devastating.
How do you react when the person who gave you life is transitioning out of her body ? Leaving THIS world as I know it ?
But you take the information that's given and you make the best of it.
After several rounds of chemo, and actually being in remission, she announces to me one day that she's tired, and doesn't want to go through treatment anymore.
I respected her wishes.
I want to thank my Mom for all that she did for me.
If it wasn't for her, I would have never have been interested in photography.
She gave me my first point and shoot for Christmas one year and it took off from there.
My only regrets with my Mom, is that she never saw my success in my career and she won't be at my wedding.
This is one of the first images I captured with that camera.
She loved roses and had quite the garden in her backyard.
This one is called Chicago Peace.