If you read my other blog post, you know that my mother died a few days after Mother’s Day in May. Her birthday is in September. I celebrated her first birthday in heaven in my front yard with a small group of family that I invited through a public post on Instagram. I didn’t share my address, but I left the invite open. I expected the family members who knew where I lived to come and they did. But there was one surprise guest. A real surprise, because she didn’t message me and didn’t know where I live. It was my cousin’s best friend. Let’s call my cousin “ Ashanti” , and her best friend T. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. I was honestly overjoyed by the support. I knew she had lost her mother a decade or two ago, so I figured she understood the pain I was feeling. T was one of the first people to arrive, so I greeted her and told her to make herself at home. I noticed her looking around, observing my space, the certificates on the wall, but I didn’t t...