I don’t know if it’s ironic, or just plain sad, but the only person I want to call right now, to tell how badly my heart hurts, is my mom.

If you’re a person of a certain age, you probably recognize the similarity to the movie – The Way We Were. Maybe you watched it as a young girl, or you rewatched it through the women of Sex and the City. Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford break up. Sorry if that’s a spoiler. Her heart is broken, and she calls him, telling him, even though they broke up, she just needs him to be her best friend at the moment to get her through this. 

I want to make that call. I want my mom to hold me one more time and tell me it will all be ok. 

In the movie, Barbara Streisand sees Robert Redford with his new love. She shows a grace unmatched, and simply says, “Your girl is lovely…” — I want some of that grace now.

I believe in the ever after. I believe Heaven got a beautiful new girl. She’s giving her famous twirl for all the world to see. And that makes me so happy. She deserves this – this peace, this love, and so much more! So I breathe deeply, knowing, if Heaven shows their beautiful face today, I will say, with all the grace I have been shown, given, taught by a mother who was nothing but grace itself…I will say the words that have never been more true, “Your girl is lovely…”

Ivy Hills. My mother. I will love her forever.