Mother’s Day isn’t only for those of us whose heart is aching as we remember the last moments spent with our mothers.

You can feel pain on Mother’s Day for various reasons:

—If you’ve lost your mother and you’re facing the first Mother’s Day without her

—If you’ve lost children and feel the void especially on that day

—If you have a child who won’t live until the next Mother’s Day

—If you’ve never been able to conceive or carry a child successfully

—If you’ve miscarried (and have children)

—If your child or mother is away fighting in war

—If you gave up a child for adoption

—If you are a motherless daughter

—If your child or mother committed suicide

—If your child or mother died of an accidental drug overdose

—If your mother or child died due to illness

—If you are a woman with children and your partner has recently left you

—If you are the husband who is doing his best to parent your children and usher them through the grief of losing their mom in an accident (or any other way)

—If you are saying a slow good-bye to your mother who has Alzheimer’s disease

—If your loved one was cremated and there is no gravestone (maybe someone else made that decision)

…

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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