Today would have been my elder daughter’s birthday.  She was born on Thanksgiving Day decades ago.  The hospital staff was preparing a turkey dinner for the new mothers, and I was very aware of the tantalizing smells while I was in labor.  I wanted to eat that dinner, but could not.

How am I going to honor my daughter’s life?

First, I am going to focus on thankfulness for having her in my life.  She became a composite engineer, had five additional engineering certificates, earned her MBA, and was supervising thee production lines for a Minnesota manufacturing company when she died.  Shipping generators to Iraq was one of the last things she did.

Second, I am going to enjoy my twin grandchildren.  My daughter did an excellent job of teaching them our family values: education, hard work, honesty, giving back.  The twins are high school seniors, straight A students, and researching colleges.  Being their guardian has changed my life.  When they leave for college my husband and I will be empty nesters again and it will be painful.

Third, I will try to be a role model for my grandchildren.  The twins have lived with us for two and a half years.  Though the kids share few personal thoughts, they are keen observers.  They know I love to cook, love to write, and have a caregiving type of personality.  “You care more about other people’s birthdays than your own,” my granddaughter observed.

Fourth, I will appreciate the miracle of life.  After four loved ones died within nine months, it was all I could do to get through a day.  I didn’t celebrate the miracle of life.  But this day is mine – a day of reflection, a day of gratefulness, a day to celebrate the miracle of my daughter’s life and our grandchildren.  As Margaret Mead once said, “The closest friends I have made all through live have been people who also grew up close to a loved and loving grandmother or grandfather.”

So I will celebrate my daughter’s life by loving her children even more.

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Harriet Hodgson

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelancer for 43 years, is the author of thousands of articles, and 42 books, including 10 grief resources. She is Assistant Editor of the Open to Hope website, a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, Alliance of Independent Authors, Minnesota Coalition for Grief Education and Support, and Grief Coalition of Southeastern Minnesota. She is well acquainted with grief. In 2007 four family members died—her daughter (mother of her twin grandchildren), father-in-law, brother (and only sibling) and the twins’ father. Multiple losses shifted the focus of Hodgson’s work from general health to grief resolution and healing. She has appeared on more than 185 radio talk shows, including CBS Radio, and dozens of television stations, including CNN. In addition to writing for Open to Hope, Hodgson is a contributing writer for The Grief Toolbox website and The Caregiver Space website. A popular speaker, she has given presentations at The Compassionate Friends national conference, Bereaved Parents of the USA national conference, and Zoom grief conferences. Her work is cited in Who’s Who of American Women, World Who’s Who of Women, Contemporary Authors, and other directories. For more information about this busy grandmother, great grandmother, author, and speaker please visit www.harriethodgson.com.

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