Hi there. I stumbled onto this message board today and I'm glad b/c I haven't really talked in any kind of organized "grief" setting since my mom died. I lost my mom this past October out of the blue. She was only 59 years old and in perfect health. I was 41 weeks pregnant when she died and she had been calling every other minute, it seemed, to see if I was in labor yet. The night she had her stroke I talked to her around 7 p.m. and was kind of short w/her b/c I was annoyed that she kept asking if I was in labor and I was annoyed that I wasn't and that she kept asking. I don't even think I told her I loved her. Later that night, sometime after 11 p.m., she keeled over in the kitchen of her house. My stepdad said she was sort of concious for awhile, but she quickly slipped into unconciousness and never woke up. I saw her at the hospital early Saturday morning (around 2 a.m.) but had to leave later that morning because, wouldn't you know it, I went into labor and couldn't deliver where she was. I had my baby Saturday afternoon. Monday morning my stepdad called around 4 a.m. to say things didn't look good. My doctor released me early (I'd had a c-section, so I wasn't really supposed to leave) and later that morning my mom was officially pronounced dead. One of the hardest parts of this is that she never even got to meet her newest granddaughter, and she had been SO excited. She had a bag packed so she could be at the hospital overnight w/me if need be and wanted to know about every contraction and feeling I had. She doted on my other two kids and it breaks my heart that my oldest only got to have five years with her and my son only got three (she actually died on his third birthday). She was a part of my daily life; a day rarely went by that we didn't talk. I saw her at least once a week and my kids were incredibly close with her. I still can't believe she's gone and I'm dreading Christmas without her. The only thing that saves my sanity is my husband and kids, but otherwise I can't believe how much I miss her. Anyway, thanks for letting me share. Also, does anyone know of any good books/websites that deal w/grief for young children? My 3 yo seems fine but my 5 yo has been having a lot of nightmares lately and I think they're related to her missing her beloved Nana and not expressing it. But maybe not.