from Tammie
My beloved mother was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in 2006 that eventually led to a heartbreaking journey toward her death in May of 2007.
I grieved enourmously for months leading up to a trip with my daughter's dance company to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to see The Nutcracker. Also, that same day, a trip was planned to pay a visit to a local mall for shopping. At that time in my life, my mother was never far from my thoughts, and especially the grief I felt about her untimely death at only age 61.
The Christmas shopping at the mall with my daughter in a favorite store brought an unexplainable encounter that I believe, to this day, was meant of comfort to me.
A lady approached me in a calming manner and asked me if I knew a lady named "Karen." At the time, taken a bit off-guard, I replied, "No." The lady said to me, in disbelief, "You look just like her."
It wasn't until I left the mall that I realized "Karen" was my mother's name; and we definitely look and talk almost exactly alike (as I am her eldest daughter). I cannot recall the events leading up to the encounter with the mysterious lady, only that she spoke to me in a passing moment.
Somehow, I believe my mother came to me in spirit, to let me know she was still with me. I loved her dearly (and still do), and she will be with me all the days of my life.