Over the summer, I had the honor of supporting a young woman whose mother was dying. It was a misdiagnosis a year ago. When things got worse, and her mom ended up in hospital, they were told she only had a few weeks before cancer would take her away. A blanket of disbelief wrapped them up and I was called and asked for help.

I knew this young woman as a friend of Zane’s who frequented our home over the high school years. She is brilliant, beautiful and carries a strength I have witnessed grow within her for decades. She has pursued life fearlessly. She faced her mother’s fate the same way. She left her home in BC to come back and take the role of caregiver, advisor and advocate to her mother’s needs. She balanced her feelings to support the emotions of her grieving family. And in the end, she ensured that her mother’s final wishes to leave this earth from her home, surrounded by family and friends was granted.

At her request, I attended the funeral. I had not met her mother in all the years that her daughter was part of our lives. I felt a bit like an imposter, coming to a funeral of a woman I did not know. But I knew her daughter and I had met her other two children, and I wanted to hold them in their darkest hour. The celebration of life reflected who her mother was in an afternoon of laughter and tears, leaving me with the understanding of how joyful her mother was and an awareness of where the strength was born.

As I listened to the tributes, I thought to myself, they speak of the love of a mother. The commonalities of motherhood; of how she created a home that had an open-door policy and within their home a sense of festivity at any time of the year. Especially Christmas for her family. I heard of how she had balanced work, to be home for her children, a task that was not easy. I heard how she found solitude in the forests and how nature soothed her. I’m watching the video of her life as wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend and I thought to myself, she is extraordinary. She has taken the role of wife and mother and by her dedication, I am sitting in a room of people who already miss her.

Each celebration of life carries a message. Yes, it involves how wonderful the deceased was and the impact they had with their own perspective of how life should be lived. This celebration reminded me of how blessed I am to be in the role of mother, of its importance to so many. However, what truly hit home was her last message to her family.  Her belief, that was recorded and played for all of us to hear. She said, “I want to be a part of all the special events. Even if it can’t be in the physical, it’ll be in the non-physical. I love you all…” And that message, her family will cling to for the rest of their lives. What a gift to believe that love overcomes death. It does not separate us. And what a bigger gift to pass that belief onto your children.