Personal Narrative: How My Mother Changed Me Forever

7 Ways Losing my Mother Changed Me Forever

I will never forget the details of that morning. Apparently this is referred to as a “flashbulb memory” - where you recall the experience of learning about the news of an event - and not as much the actual event itself. Where you were. What you were doing, and so on. I am going to share my flashbulb memory of when my mother died and how losing a parent changed me forever.

My World Was Shattered When I Heard the News

It was a dreary Saturday morning with a cloudy overcast. At 19 years old, I was navigating my way through my first semester of an intensive nursing program. I forced myself out of bed to my Saturday biology class that ran from 8 am to noon. Even the clothes I was wearing that day I remember,

The first holidays after mom was gone were extremely hard to get through. I will be the first to admit that I was a very spoiled and privileged child from a young age. My mom made a huge effort on every special holiday, even birthdays, Easter, Valentine’s Day, you name it. She would open every single Hallmark card and pick just the right one that said the exact message that she found fitting. I miss those cards and regret all the ones that were thrown away over the years, but cherish the few I have left. In all actuality, I stopped celebrating the big holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas a couple of years after she was gone as it was just easier than dealing with the memories.

I can’t stand seeing people complain about their parents. I have a couple of friends that have downright disowned their own mothers over issues that are entirely petty. One of these mothers I speak to regularly and her entire world has been shattered when her daughter stopped speaking to her and never allows her to see her grandkids for nearly four years now. While it’s completely not my place, I cannot help but to give a piece of my mind to any of my friends that have done this or complain about their