"Just for anyone's notice, I turned 57 today - Nov 14, 2012. Where did the hope and time go?"
Happy birthday, you young whippersnapper!
There is always hope, Doug; it's a state of mind. The secret is trying to set the past aside and look towards the future. It's trite to say, but today is the first day of the rest of your life. Allow yoursefl whatever time it takes to grieve, but don't allow yourself to get locked in there. I bet your Mom would insist that you need to get on with your life.
BTW, both of my parents passed away in 2000, I'm almost 68, have twice survived cancer, live with the aftermath of four spinal compression fractures, and cope with a pacemaker. But I still haul myself down to the Colorado Railroad Museum every Saturday and I plan on living to 110, at which point I will simply twinkle out like a star!
Mike