What you said about your mothers’ death being for so long an essential part of your story, like in that Quindlen quote, really resonated for me. I wonder how many of us have college-age traumas (deaths, losses) which marks us in that way? I, too, have finally reached a place where I no longer feel compelled to tell the story that hurt the most; it’s a part of who I am, but not one I have to tell in order to feel that I’m making myself known. I’m not sure what shifted there, other than the passage of time and the healing it eventually brings.

I also love the descriptions of the photographs of your mother. She sounds pretty remarkable. No real surprise, there, given you.