When Mom left us girls 16 years ago, after a long bout of cancer, it has given us a reason to celebrate and to prioritize time together as sisters, exactly the way Mom would have wanted it to be.

We invest in each other’s lives, and learn to love more every day.

A few weeks ago we went to lunch, then worked on a project in my eldest sister’s home. We can’t help but laugh and have fun together — every single time.

We’ve decide to call it beautiful–that Mom is free from pain and the horrible disease of cancer and is up with God–instead of calling it wrong.

Yes, cancer sucks. Big time sucks. It’s never good, but now years later, we take the heartbreak and we admit it. Life is beautiful and worth celebrating, even when our loved ones leave us.

And … we make chocolate covered strawberries together.

My sister Di showed us how, and we had our share of giggles when the chocolate clumped together, we experimented with trying to get it smooth, and of course we ate more than we were putting on the strawberries.

Here’s our recipe. One I can totally recommend for you to make for your Mother’s Day celebration.

Nice and easy – and fresh and beautiful.

And our 2 tips to share if your chocolate clumps together:

1. Microwave chocolate 30 seconds at a time and stir, stir, stir for glossiness.

2. Strawberries should not be stored in refrigerator longer than 1 hour, as condensation drops may collect on the chocolate.

We dream of Mom to this day, but we have to have the boldness and courage–the belief that it’s okay that she is gone, and the hope of seeing her again–to call it beautiful.

We have to celebrate the fact that we can still dream. And we still have each other.

Do you have any tips with making chocolate covered strawberries?