My Mother
The April 2026 Letter
Hello everyone,
Sorry that this newsletter is late. I've been avoiding writing it for the past few days.
I'll keep this short: My mother passed away last week on my birthday. And since it'll shape my life and work for a while, it felt right to share.
I’ve been expecting her passing for a while—I wrote about it in my newsletter about my sister. I just didn’t expect the timing.
My wife and I had been travelling, a short, fun vacation to celebrate my 53rd birthday, and then we got a call from the nursing home: Mom wasn’t doing well.
We dropped everything and went. After a long night, we knew she probably wouldn’t make it. We just didn’t know if it would be on my birthday or a few days after.
I'd learned from my sister's passing how this might go—the long nights, the goodbyes you give not knowing if it's the final one. We were already exhausted, so I decided we should go home and rest.
The call came just before 4:00 a.m. I drove back to see her one last time. She’d passed in her sleep, peacefully, at 93. If I had a choice, that’s how I’d want it to go.
I don’t have a lot to say besides that.
I’m a slow processor. It’ll take me a while to grieve. So until then, I'm just going to place it in a quiet, special place to think about it, visit it, and consider it as I go about my days.
Thank you for reading.
Until next month,
David