The birth that follows goodbye

The note was simple, yet weighty. Words so potent I had to catch my breath.

“I’m very sorry for the loss of your Mother,” she wrote in the kind of cursive handwriting that betrays age. “When I lost my own Mother many years ago, someone sent me this quote and I’ve held onto it ever since. I hope it speaks to you.”

I turned the page and found this:

“Your mother gives birth to you twice – once when you are born and again when she dies.”

As I reread the words, I felt the truth of its message seep in...