One of my favorite spirituality writers is Ron Rolheiser and his Mother's Day column today was beautiful. He explained how his mother died too young, leaving a big brood of children that "felt too young to be on its own."

Here's the graph that sticks with me this Mother's Day evening:

"She died of pancreatitis and a broken heart, just three months after she had nursed my dad through a year-long, losing, battle with cancer. As my dad lay dying, one of my brothers and I took her to a shop to buy a dress for the funeral. She splurged and bought the most expensive dress she'd ever purchased. When she tried on the dress the sales clerk told her: "You look terrific in that dress! I hope you enjoy wearing it!" She wore it just twice, once to her husband's funeral and once to her own. The irony of the salesclerk's comment hasn't been lost."

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