Todd,

First off condolences to you and your family on the loss of your mother.

Also I want to tell you how she helped me as a child. My father died 6 weeks after my 14th birthday after a prolonged illness. I was a reader before then, and still am. In 1995 I was back home and visited the teacher that I had in 9th grade. She point blank asked me “Why did you never try drugs?” I answered “I had my books.” When I had friends doing that crud I was on the backs of so many dragons soaring through the skies, flying through time and space. Saving a planet. So Todd, keep writing, you and your sister. And know that your mother kept one young girl’s dreams alive. I wish I could have met her.

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Heather,

I’m sorry to hear about your father! Fourteen is a terrible time to lose a parent, especially with only six weeks’ warning.

Mum had her first heart attack all the way back in 2000 and her first stroke in 2001 — she gave us plenty of advanced warning, as it were. I used to tell everyone it was golden time.

I’m glad that her books (and others, as I’m sure she’d modestly add) were a help.

And, you know, you really did get to meet her in her books. And they’re still there, just waiting for you to open again and say ‘hi.’

Cheers,
Todd