Adriana’s Story

My mom died when I was 25 and she was 51, after a 3-year colon cancer battle.

After I had my first child, my grief seemed to change and intensify. I yearned for a maternal figure beside me. I would be out walking with my baby and fantasize about having her with us. Seeing grandmothers and mothers and babies at the mall would make me tear up. My mom was so patient and calm — she was truly born to be a grandma and it’s heartbreaking she’ll never know my kids and they will never experience her love.

I try and keep her memory alive by telling them stories about her and displaying a huge collage of photos of her in our home. We celebrate her birthday by getting her favourite cake, flowers, and food.

Becoming a mom myself has made me understand my mom in such deeper ways and it breaks my heart to not be able to talk to her and have her guidance in life. A mother has a truly irreplaceable role in a woman’s life, at any age.