I am so very sorry for the loss of your dear mother and for all the suffering she experienced. Please don't fuss over the things you said to your mother--she loved you dearly and knew you loved her. Focus more on the good things and good times you remember about your mother because they are more important than things said on one day. You are grieving, and it is a long, slow process. Anger is a natural part of the grieving, so don't be surprised that you are angry about something or at someone. I strongly encourage to call your church or local hospital to ask about a grief counseling group. I know this will be difficult to do, but please, please give it a try. If you don't like it you don't have to go back. My mother has been gone 8 years now. I continue to miss her, but the pain is gentler now. Just sadness. Nearly everyone feels this way over time about our mothers. But know you will get through this, but this is the hard time. Let us know how you are doing.

I am glad I found this site, to see that others feel the same as I do. I lost my mother last week, she passed away Feb 27, 2013 at the age of 65. My mother was my soul mate, she was my best friend and recently she felt like a daughter. I miss the sparkle in her eyes. She had been ill for about 8 years, on and off, and each time she seemed to get better. She always had such a great attitude and sense of humor. I thought she would get better this time too. I was her caretaker, along with my father for the last 2 years. Before that I worked with her and saw her every day. I have seen her or talked to her every day of my life. I am only 30 years old and I always thought I would have her around for another 20. I still feel like a child, and without her I feel lost. I don't have children yet, and I know that when I do it will be bitter-sweet because she is not here. The pain I feel is very intense and I am exhausted, I have only begun grieving and I wonder when it will end (but I see now that it never will). I am not sure what to make of all these strange feelings. A week before she passed away, angels came to me and told me that she would feel better by the end of the following week. Even though my interpretation was wrong, they were right, she does feel better. Since her passing she has been talking to me and that is a huge comfort, she tells me she is happy and that she will always be by my side. She tells me she is excited to meet her grandchildren. She has been telling me not to wait to live my life anymore, to have fun. She also said to think of her transition as a long vacation, we will see each other again when my flight lands. My story is so similar to all the others I have read, so I am sure your mothers are by your sides helping and guiding you through your lives. Talk to your mothers because they hear you and the love they feel for you is pure.

The Cholesterol meds aren't lowering your blood pressure. Your new regime of diet and exercise is what is lowering your blood pressure as well as your bad cholesterol. Just a word about blood pressure. Your blood pressure does not stay the same all day long. It fluxuates according to stress, anger, exercising, sleeping or resting and other factors in your everyday life. You have high blood pressure when your blood pressure is consistantly high over a long period. That is why doctors often do a 24 hour blood pressure test. Doctors are not as concerned over systolic reading--120,130, 140--as they are over the diastolic reading--78,80,85. The first reading is the heart pumping and the second is the heart at rest. High blood pressure is anything over 140/90 and optimal blood pressure is 120/80. I'd say don't obcess about your blood pressure. Just continue as you are doing and you soon won't need any pills. Congrats on changing your life for the better!!

Petra: Now, MY memory may be fading, but I'm sure I saw a TV show in which a character's memory slips were blamed on not drinking enough water! Maybe it was "Doc Martin"? I think today's society is also so distracted by things older folks never were -- cellphones, computers, tending to both their children and parents, commuting stress. Our attention is so heavily divided that we can't successfully focus on one thing at a time. And we're still doing it when we try to sleep. Throw in chemical additives (food and otherwise), can't help but not be surprised. I'm not quite of the boomer generation, but for a few years now I've noticed cognitive slips -- searching for the right word, the right name, forgetting 1 of just 3 things I wanted at the store, things popping into and straight out of my mind ...