My best friend isn’t here in the way she used to be.

My mom. My muse. My biggest cheerleader. She’s moved on—not gone, just no longer in the flesh. Her presence is still very much with me, sometimes guiding me, sometimes nudging me in that unmistakable, helicopter-yet-laid-back way only she could. And though I can’t sit across from her anymore, sharing iced caramel lattes with a little whipped cream, her influence remains as vivid as ever.