A water lily, delicate, light and airy. I think it's amazing how they just float on the water like that. They're so simple and beautiful. I smile every time I see one. Mama used to say I was like a water lily. She would say, "Val, you're my water lily, precious and beautiful." Mama had this smile that could make you the happiest person on the face of the planet, just by showing it to ya. She was my light, my rock, and the water that kept me beautiful.
That day she left, my thoughts scattered. I could not function with out her. Why did she leave? Why did she go if I was her soul? Would she come back?

Papa said no.
She wouldn't, he was just as scattered with out her as I was. He loved her and he didn't want her to go, neither did she. But, God needed her.
But why did she have to go? I need her to! She is MY mama. I hear papa say that "the disease knocked her so far down that she could not get back up." that it "ate her from the outside in."
Mama was strong though. She fought back with all her might, mind, and strength to stay here and take care of her water lily.
But she lost.
Before she left, mama told me that God needed me too, he needed me here. On the earth, to teach my babies about water lilies.
I think she was right.
Someday, I'll see Mama again, and she'll be happy and strong. She'll hold me in her arms again and tell me all about the lilies.