She would go but no tears would fall,
her make-up would remain blemish free
unlike her memories of the man.
She had loved him, of course she had,
but that love disappeared with him,
not immediately but over time
like thick fog dissipating under a warming sun.
At first she would cry, ask repeatedly
" where's dad mum, when is he coming home"
but this too over time petered out
with mum becoming both, and everything,
the foundation upon which her life built.
Today though she would stand strong,
be the crutch for a woman that never stopped loving,
hoping...