It's strange to think it's been a whole year and some change since my mom's passing. For awhile I was kind of pissed. Not so much at the unfairness of it all, cause I've known for quite a while that few things in life are fair. Life has it's ups and downs and that particular stage of life was a real downer. I miss her. Mostly I was mad that she died just a few days after her birthday. Sounds trivial, but it seemed wrong. I know most people hate their birthdays. I like birthdays and so did she, though like my dad, she decided she'd stay 25 forever. Sure, mom. Whatever you say...Still, I remember her face. She did look quite young--and beautiful.

Me and my dad went up to St. Louis and spent Easter with my Aunt Mags & Uncle Tom. While we were in St. Louis, we finally got a good look at her headstone. It doesn't get more final than that. My dad got a little teary eyed when we had a moment alone with her. He misses her a lot. He doesn't say so, but it shows. Kind of reminds me of my Aunt Myr. Until she received the cd with photos from my mom's funeral, she said it was easy to pretend that my mom was in the states fishing or messing with her garden. I suppose it's the same for us. My mom used to talk to my dad about visiting the P.I. So I guess for us, it felt like she was off visiting relatives in the Philippines. Well, it did until we saw her headstone.

Depressing, I know...Well, that moment of the trip was. After that, my dad spent the day with his folks and I went off to my Aunt Mags. Everything was gravy after that. My mom loved Easter. She was as jazzed about it as Christmas. I was jazzed about visiting my Aunt Mag & Uncle Tom's. I ate good, let me tell you. My Uncle Tom can cook! My Aunt Mag can make some drinks, too! We got a little silly with the martini's everybody else had them some beers. I had fun with their 2 Mastiffs (miniature horses) and their black lab. They tried to help me when I was roasting marshmellows in their fireplace. Apparently, big dogs like marshmellows. Yum! My cousin stopped by the night before my dad and I headed back, I got to say hi to his dog, too. Cute and super energetic, that one.  If I could bottle his energy, I could sell it to Starbucks and make millions. Lol :) He tried to help me color eggs and he tried to eat Uncle Tom's birthday cake. He was a pretty motivated pooch. Sweet, though.

Anyway, it was nice to kick back and relax. It's good to see my dad just chill. He's always at ease when he's around his brother and his cousins. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that he's okay. He's been fixing up his bike lately. Got a luggage rack and a really cool work/travel bag for his harley. I think he plans on some road trips to St. Louis to visit them when work permits. Sounds like fun to me. In the end, all that really matters is the good times. 

When we finally got back it was late and, to my horror, the computer seemed to be on. Which is a pretty fantastic feat considering no one was in the house since we'd been gone and I watched the darn thing turn off before we left. Freakin' computer! Typically, the motherboard fries the next day. I don't even know how I do it. I'm like a computer jinx or a gremlin--whichever. Luckily my dad wasn't mad. Phew! 

Well, that was my Easter. We survived my mom's one year death day anniversary relatively unscathed. (She'd love that HP reference) A small horse sat on me, a hyper dog tried to mug me for a slice of cake and a boiled purple egg, we at some cake, drink some liquor, and did it all in the company of good people. Not bad. Not bad at all. 

Well, except for the motherboard...