Book excerpt: Songs My Mother Wrote is a poetic journey about my life with my mother and how I was able to make a choice about how I was going to handle the loss of my mother. I decided to celebrate her life. I hope this book can help others who have lost someone special overcome the grief and sorrow of loss. Joyce Fizzolio died of lung cancer on July 8, 2004. She was a child, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a well-known and respected voice teacher. My mother studied music at Wayne State University and she graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. She was a coloratura soprano and teacher. Her concert debut was with the American Symphony Orchestra of New York. My mother performed in twenty-three musicals and she made her Broadway debut as a feature soloist at the Palace Theater in New York City. She taught singing lessons for several years and she was a member of several music organizations. My mother's creative outlet was her voice. My creative outlet is my writing. During my time of grieving and loss, I found comfort in writing poetry. I was amazed at how my writing changed as I started to channel my grief and sadness into learning more about myself and my purpose and my healing. We are all born with gifts and we must look at our gifts to bring forward the memory of someone special. This is my gift and I hope you enjoy the poetry. If you knew my mother, I hope it gives you a smile to remember what a dynamic and wonderful person she was in life.