It is the fix for a broken heart. You cannot go back in time and give yourself the mother you deserved. But you can show up, today, and offer your mother the daughter she needed. Not because she earned it. Not because she changed. But because you want to be the kind of person who loves without holding back.

I started to notice things I had never seen before. My mother’s hands shake slightly when she pours coffee. She reads three newspapers a day because she is terrified of being uninformed. She buys the same brand of orange juice my deceased father used to buy, even though she doesn't like it.

Hug her for six seconds (the minimum time required to release oxytocin). Hold her hand. If physical touch is not your love language, make her tea and hand it to her with both hands.