My mom

This is a picture of my mom, taken July 29, 1990, at Bever Park in Cedar Rapids. The occasion was her 80th birthday celebration. I thought the photo a fairly good one, in that she looks happy. My mother was born on July 31, 1910. She lived 86 years and a few months. She went home ... to heaven on Sept. 23, 1996.

Sometimes it is hard to imagine her being gone for 12 years already or that in 2010, just two years from now, she would be 100.

Jim and I were thinking of her the other day, when we saw all the Halloween candy at the store.

We grew up in rural southwest Cedar Rapids and it wasn't until the early 1970s that my mom moved into town. The move enabled her to enjoy the little kids coming to her door on Halloween night, dressed in cute costumes and asking for a treat. She enjoyed that so much during those years. The funny thing is, the treats she bought for them was often consumed long before Oct. 31 arrived, and she'd have to buy more bags of candy. Instead of two bags, it would be four!