I am participating in a family effort to honor my mother, by getting my lovely friend and terrific photographer to take this picture of me with a bas-relief my mother created of an angel. My mother's cruelty to me could scarcely be exaggerated, and, after decades of attempting to heal the relationship, I chose to give up, and seek only distance from her. Hope bloomed. I began a novel, exploring her early life, as well as mine, and finding and expressing my love that way. Letting go of any hope of reconciliation led to the most profound regeneration.