23

When Taren got tired and went to sit down, I made eye contact with Mom and gestured for her to come outside. When she arrived, she immediately fell into the rhythm of the song, moving gracefully to the pulse-pounding beat. As I shifted from silly dances to the way my body naturally wanted to move, Mom’s dark eyes glimmered with amusement.

“It’s so good to see you smile like this, honey,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over the music. “And you dance so well! We should do this more often!”

I laughed. “Maybe, but nothing tops working in the garden with you!”

Mom beamed at the compliment and broke rhythm so she could pull me in for a hug. “I love you, sweetheart.”

I hugged her back. I took in her lovely, earthy scent and felt tears in the back of my eyes. I would miss my mom so much, but hopefully, we would meet again someday. Before the tears could flow, I pulled away so I could take her hand and twirl her around. “Love you too, Mom.”

I danced for hours, but I kept a close eye o