Mother Dear

by Nova Lee Maier

Death didn’t discriminate. Not by age, not by gender or race. Whether you were beautiful or ugly, fat or thin, it made no difference. Death took what it wanted, at random.

“Parenting is less time-consuming than it used to be, but it takes a lot more energy,”

“There’s no such thing as truth, Helen, only perception. And that’s different for everybody.

People don’t really change, her mother had said to her once. Some character traits just grow stronger over the years, while others fade away.

“Children should do better than their parents, not repeat their mistakes,”

Love persists. The umbilical cord may be cut immediately after birth, but there is always another one. You can’t see it, but you can definitely feel it. And it tugs at you forever,

They had probably started out brimming with idealism, but something had gone very wrong along the way. And they wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to take it out on you.

Being right and being believed are two different things.

Resting is doing absolutely nothing for as long as it takes you to get bored.”

Originally, she had fallen for his pragmatism—his cool, rational way of looking at the world. She had mistaken it for strength. But since meeting Lex, she had realized that strength could also go with warmth and friendliness—and that those things might even be a better combination.

“Mothers love their children more than their children love them. That’s natural, and it’s how things should be.”