Well, I got myself out on Sunday to visit the spot where we left my mother's ashes.

It was another nice day, and with the leaves turning, it's definitely a beautiful spot. It's a place we had visited as kids (there's a picture of Mom on the bench flanked by me and my brother.) It's a place my parents visited pretty often after my brother and I had moved out, as well. I think I can understand why.

I think (at least, I hope) it was a place that helped her feel at peace with the world, with life. A "happy place" she could carry with her to help her in more troubled times. A place that, rather than serving as an escape, helped her open up to the connection we all have with the Infinite. In other words, a reminder of what is there all the time, whether you call it God, or whatever.

I left her, this time, much more at peace, myself, with what is.