The ofrenda is early this year...

I've been quiet for both good and bad reasons. First I was quiet because I started a new book, something fun and different my subconscious insisted on, and I'm 80,000 words into it. Then I was quiet because the heat of an Arizona summer hammered me flat, and I was trying not to lose the ground I'd gained earlier in the year.

Then my mother's health plummeted. She rallied under the comfort of hospice, and we had two good weeks with her. One night there was a sea change, and in scant days she "went ahead."

My mother loved Allie, and for twenty-five years she used a tattered Hidden Fires bookmark when she read. Otherwise, you'll have to read the obit. Because she was old school. A lady appears in the papers only three times. She lived her life quietly and with grace, despite health challenges. I have loved her through many lifetimes, and know I will see her again.
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