(Originally posted on my Substack . Also yall don't have to subscribe to my SS, you can simply Follow, too, if you'd like.) Today is actually March 1st as I type this. I’ve got two things on my mind: my mom and bees. The only thing those two have in common is that bees are psychopomps in some cultures—entities that carry the dead to the Spirit World. And my mom is dead. She died on October 14, 2023. We had a complicated relationship. She was an emotionally abusive alcoholic and I wasn’t an enabler. All the family wanted was for her to get sober, and all she wanted was death. When I learned of her death, I felt immense relief and a weight lifted from me. The grief and healing process have been longer—going on before her death, honestly. I just put her memorial photos in an album yesterday. It felt good to put all of that information into a physical book. I sat there, looked and read, and remembered. How I reacted. How the kids reacted. Dealing with family and strangers. Some ...