On this day...

Dear Congressman,

Today is February 13, 2011. In history on this day, the following events were recorded (courtesy of History.com):

The Catholic Church started proceeding against an Italian Astronomer named Galileo Galilei on the charge of heresy. It appeared that Galileo thought the earth revolved around the sun, and the Church disagreed. The Church won.

In 1945, Dresden, Germany was a nice place to live on the morning of February 13, but by the evening was a firestorm of death as RAF bombers turned it into a living hell, killing over 35,000 residents.

In 1689, William and Mary were proclaimed sovereign rulers of England, restoring Protestant rule in place of the Catholic reign of Mary's father, James II. This proclamation included a "Bill of Rights" for the people of Britain, a precursor to the 1789 version that amended the US Constitution 100 years later.

And nearer to my heart, on this day two years ago in 2009, my mum passed away in the early hours of the morning after a 5 year battle with cancer. Melody and I were aware the night before we left her that it would probably be the last time we would see her alive, as she had been non-responsive for over 24 hours as she concentrated on just breathing. My brother had flown into town a day before to join the vigil with my sister, my wife, and myself over those last few days. So she been attended to by the people who she loved the most when the final days came, and we got to be there for her to make her as comfortable as possible.

Two years have passed and I still think of her every day. She had battled cancer before in the early 1990's, and had beaten it back with the same strong will that she tackled every problem in her life. After the diagnosis of a stage 4 re-occurrence in 2003, I would talk to her every day on the phone, carving out time to see what was going on in her life and give her the lowdown on mine. Saturdays were generally reserved for going over to her condo and vacuuming, as the cancer had spread to her bones and made this task difficult. Afterward we would go out to eat at a nearby restaurant, calling Melody to join us if she was in the area and available. Many a good and bad story was shared at these festive tables.

Beginning in 2006, we would plan an annual vacation to Emerald Isle, North Carolina. We would always rent a cabin directly on the beach, allowing us to drink our coffee watching the ocean as we tried to spot the dolphins swimming along the shoreline in the morning sun. We would invariably lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Zarape, and then follow up with a family dinner that we would cook at the beach house.

So with the many memories and good times I was able to share with my mum, I feel very blessed that we were able to squeeze so many years of living into such as short span. Thank you for being who you were, mum.

I love you.