Mothers, Easters and Hallmark

It's close to Easter. A holiday which I love but have also grown to hate. 11 years ago, my mother passed away March 31st. Easter that year was on April 7th. The church was filled with Easter lillies for the holiday service. I hate Easter Lillies now, the sight and smell of them send me back to that horrible time.
My mom was pretty neat. Unusual in her own right, proud of who she was, honest, plain, simple, and loving. Taught every child at church "Jesus loves me." Babies and children somehow sensed her goodness and would seek her out. Church, grocery stores, parks, department stores, it did not matter, they flocked to her.
Alzheimers robbed her slowly of her life, her light and her spirit and finally her dignity. What a horrible disease, so insidious, so invasive and so relentless. We went from "I know you." to "I know you are one of my children" to "Who are you?"
So today, on the anniversary of her physical death, I mourn the loss of my mother. But in reality she left us 2 years earlier in spirit.
And yes, sadly enough sometimes the hardest lesson you learn is one learned too late. If you have had any semblance of a semi functional relationship with your parents, you will miss them terribly after they are gone. Some times with just passing regret of how they loved spring when the gardenias and azaleas bloom. Other times it's the crushing realization that they are gone..forever.
The Mothers Day after she passed away, I was standing in line with a card for my soon to be mother in law. The lady behind me struck up a conversation and was showing me the card she had picked out for her mother. As cards went, it was average. "Is that the card for your mother?" "No, my mother passed away in March, if I had just one more Mothers Day with her the card I would buy wouldn't even FIT in the store." She left the line and came back with the Cadillac of cards.
So.... for Easter, 4th of July, International Children's Book day, National Cheese Day, or any other day you wish...buy someone a card and write in it something that you want them to know....something that years from now you will have no regrets from things left unsaid.