We all have our ups and downs; that never really changes. Things are great for the longest time, it seems, and then something happens -- usually something unexpected -- that turns our world inside out.

I've had some bad stuff happen here recently. Mostly little things ... a TV that blew up and had to be replaced; a car that needed to be repaired; a longtime friend who really let me down.

But as luck would have it, as all these things were occurring my mom came to visit.

I spent this last weekend cooking, baking, shopping and touring pumpkin patches with my mother. At one point she was sitting on my couch knitting, and I sat down beside her. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep with my head in her lap.

There is just something about being with my mom that brings me incredible comfort. I readily admit I was not the easiest kid to love. I was prickly as a child, and as a teenager ... well, let's just say I tested boundaries with my parents.

Even as I've grown into adulthood, I have made missteps that have hurt and disappointed my mom.

And yet, no matter what, she's still always behind me. She is usually the last one to get upset with me and the first one to forgive me.

She has such an amazing capacity for love. She was and is a phenomenal mother, but watching her be a grandmother to my children -- both of whom she was at the hospital to meet mere minutes after they came into the world -- has made me truly realize how great she is.

My mom left Sunday morning. I went into the bathroom that afternoon, and I could still smell her perfume.

I sat on the floor and cried for a minute because I missed her.

I loved having my mom in my house, showing her my world.

If I can someday be half the mother to my children that my mother has been to me, I will consider it quite an accomplishment.