What is it about losing a mother?

I was re-reading some posts in a blog I started almost exactly a year ago shortly after my mom's death.  (The blog is Speaking of Miracles. www.speakingofmiracles.com) I shall post something here that was posted there a year ago to the day.

"What is it about losing a mother?  Here I am, doing some work and I come across a picture of my mom eating a meal on a sunny balcony with my oldest son.  I stare at her smiling and then realize, or is it feel: she's dead.  My mother is dead.  It is more a feeling than a statement.  An irretrievable part of me is gone even if my belief is that her spirit is not gone.  Nonetheless, something profound and unnameable has been lost--a loss unlike any other I have known.  This does not mean that I will not recover.  But I will not be the same." 

I warmly invite anyone who has lost their mother to address the question "What is it about losing a mother?"  (Write in any manner, including stream-of-consciousness writing).  If you would like to share this, please click below on "comment. It would be wonderful to hear some of your responses.  If you post a comment and do not wish it to be public, just let me know.  I will see it before it is published and can simply indicate that it not be made public.