The short walk into a small chapel at Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery in Dallas was not an easy one to make for Pamela Rogers, her sister Patricia, and her niece Diana.
"This is our first Mother's Day without my mom," Rogers said.
But they said there was no place they would rather be on this day.
"I am the woman that is standing here talking to you because of her," Diana McGee said.
In the very same room where they said their final goodbyes to their beloved mother and grandmother last fall, they each wrote her a note and lit a candle in her honor.
"It's a day to come celebrate her being a mother, not only to her own daughters, but to me as well," McGee said.
They weren't the only ones who spent time at the cemetery Sunday. Families filed in and out of the chapel all afternoon leaving notes, lighting candles and praying -- which is precisely why Restland makes the chapel available each and every Mother's Day.
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"We wanted a place for people to be able to come and remember their mom on a day when everyone else is focused on spending the day with their mother," said Michael Wilfong, community outreach director for Restland.
"It's very nice of them to let the people come out and celebrate their loved ones that can't be with us," Patricia McGee said. "And it's a very beautiful idea."
As each family walked out, some with tears streaming down their faces, they said they were glad they had an opportunity to connect with their moms on their special day.
"The day that we laid her to rest, there was a ladybug," McGee said. "And she used to call me her little ladybug. And every time I see a ladybug I know that it's her. And I had one land on me earlier when we were at church. So I know she's here with us."
And for the Rogers and McGees, that was enough.
Restland said it would bury all of the letters written Sunday at the feet of a statue of Jesus in one of their gardens.
They plan to host a similar event for Father's Day next month.
