It’s been 10 years since we celebrated Mother’s Day with my Mom. She died less than a year later in what was at the time a shock but now what I probably view as a blessing.

Mom was in relatively good health but suffered from some COPD and probably was a borderline asthmatic. She died in her own bed, just as she had wished, after her usual busy day. One of the last things she did was stop to on her way home from the grocery store and the gas station to visit my late Uncle Curt Hendrickson.

She had put all of her groceries away at home and was in her nightgown in her bedroom when we she apparently started to have difficulty breathing. I found her the next morning, lying atop the covers of her bed with an inhaler in hand.

Mom was supposed to go the the casino in Mahnomen, Minn., the next day with her good friend, Diane Benson, of Mentor, Minn. The reason she had bought gas was because Diane was going to drive and Mom was going to meet her in Mentor. When she didn’t show up, Diane called me at work.

There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about Mom. Throughout my life, she was always there for me. When I was a child and Dad was on the road working, Mom was at home raising three boys. It must have been a challenge! Whenever I or my brothers had a problem, she was there for us.

She was there for me when I was in college, always having a care package of goodies for me to take back and some extra spending money, along with doing my laundry. When I graduated and was hired by the Grand Forks Herald, she helped me out numerous times, even providing me a downpayment for my first home. One of the things that stands out the most for me is how she cared for my three dogs after the Flood of 1997, when I lost my home and had to go to St. Paul for work when the Herald was printed and published there. And Therese will tell you that she was the perfect mother-in-law.

We miss you Mom, especially on the holidays, at first when you hosted my of the get-togethers, and later when you trekked over to East Grand Forks, Minn., to join us. I know you and Dad are up there smiling down at their family left here. We’ll be joining you some day, I promise.

Until then, God bless, you Mom. We miss you!