My mom is here. It’s like she never left, like she’s suppose to be here. It’s natural for me to wake up and know my mothers in the other room. It’s natural for me to go downstairs and fix coffee for the both of us. It’s natural for her to tell me to fix my hair and put on makeup. It’s natural for mommy to want to make biscuits and cornbread and clean clean clean. 

What’s not natural is for my mother to be leaving me again the day after tomorrow to go to a place I know nothing about with people I’ve never met. It’s not natural for me to be 1500 miles away from her and to wonder if she’s doing ok, if she’s working on her books, if she’s drinking plenty of water and eating regularly.  It’s not natural, because naturally I want her here with me.