she and dad are why i am who i am today - why i do the things i do today.
we don't "lose" them - we carry them with us in every action, every choice we make.
mom and her love of animals influenced my spending the last year working to bring piper, the sheltie, home to her mom. piper, missing since april 17, 2014, is now in the midst in a major court battle with the rescue who is refusing to return her to her mom. i can't imagine standing by and not doing something. that wasn't how i was raised. it's not something my parents would have accepted as "ok"
it's impossible to talk about mom and not talk about dad - they were married 42 years - never looked at anyone else - for mom, even after dad died, she never considered a life with anyone but him. they were truly "one" (but they could argue with the best! passionate and committed - dad a republican (old school honorable one) and mom a democrat... they used to laugh about cancelling each other out at the polls!)