June 17, 2006 was my golden birthday; as it was the year I turned 17.
Senior year was to start in a mere 2 weeks- I’ve already started dreaming of how my life would be.

Curfew extended because I was almost grown…
Prom night dance and tearful graduation hugs..
Youthfulness that’ll depart slowly while at University..
I even dreamed of meeting my future husband to be..

But August 2, 2006 had other plans in mind; as it was the last time I saw my mommy alive.
Life changed so quickly then- she was buried on the 8th and I moved to Baltimore by the 10th.

I became a shell of who I used to be- no longer living in my perfect shaped fantasy.
It’ll be ten years in a couple of months, and every summer uninvited depression slowly comes.