What does heaven mean to you?  Write it out.  Find a song that reflects your words.  Play it over and over again until you are done writing.

I miss my Mom. I miss my Dad.  Just the simple every day.  Watching Dad light his pipe.  Eating Mom’s food.  Making a fresh pot of coffee to share with them.  I know I’m grown.  I know they lived a good life.  But times like this, I feel like a little lost girl.  Just missing.  

My parrot calls out my Dad’s name in my Mom’s voice.  And I can’t help but feel it’s a signal that they are OK.  

I’m an atheist, and to me, death is death.  But I know Mom and Dad live on in us, in our genetics, in the legacy of how they raised us and celebrated us.   Mom often told me a star was waiting for me in heaven because I was such a good daughter.  So what is HEAVEN?  Does it exist?

Does it exist in Mom’s voice that echoes in my apartment through my bird?  Is it in the little steps my nephew is taking as he learns to walk?  Is it in the wings my kids are growing as they blossom in their mid 20’s?  Is heaven the dreams my parents had for us?  Is it in the wonderful thoughts I enjoy imagining Mom and Dad enjoying their favorite moments?  Mom laughing with her aunts and her best friends; Dad driving through Europe on a motorcycle with his best friend?  Is it Mom and Dad falling in love?