DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Nathan Oliver, Mark Phillips, Andrew the EMT, Dr. Mizza and Dr. Fisher.
AN: This story has absolutely nothing to do with any particular ranger series and it disregards many facts of ranger lore. Enjoy it for what it is and keep an open mind, please.
"Hey buddy," Mark Phillips said as he walked up to five-year-old Nathan Oliver, who was playing on his swingset.
"Mark!" Nathan yelled as he ran over and gave him a hug. His mom had to go somewhere today and he was looking after him. He absolutely loved when Mark or someone who would play with him looked after him. He hated the babysitters that just wanted him to watch movies and sit and be still all day, it was against his nature to do something like that. "We're playing catch like you promised, right?"
"Yeah," Mark said as he held up his glove and looked around the yard for Kim. She usually didn't let him too far out of her sight, but today was never a good day for Kim, so he accepted it. He didn't ask questions about it, ever since he had come into Kim's life he had known that there were just some things that he was going to have to accept without questions in order to keep the friendship afloat. "Where's your mom?"
"Inside, she just told me to come out and wait for you," Nathan said as Mark nodded and Kim walked out the front door, carrying her purse and some flowers. "Mama, where are you going again?"
"To see a friend," Kim said, quietly, as she gave Nathan a hug and gave Mark a wry smile. Nathan still didn't understand a lot, but he was starting to understand more and Kim was dreading the day when she would have to explain it all to him. "Thanks for watching him. I'll be back sometime this afternoon."
"Take all the time you need," Mark said as Kim walked over to the jeep she only drove twice a year. He knew that everything had changed for her on this day five years ago and it would never be the same for her.
Flashback
"Kim! Beautiful, I'm home!" Tommy yelled as he tossed his school bag in a chair and continued walking into the house. It was eerily quiet, but with the defeat of Mesogogg he was not too worried about Kim having been captured. He was actually more worried about accidentally waking the baby than anything else.
"Shh, I just got Nathan to sleep, I don't want him to wake up for awhile," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and walked over to give her a hug. They had the whole weekend ahead of them and they were going to take full advantage of it. "How was your day?"
"All right, I spent most of it wanting to get home though," Tommy said as Kim smiled and walked him into the kitchen where he saw the table set for two. That surprised him just a tad, as Kim rarely was able to put the time into doing something like this anymore. Nathan kept her far too busy, although he certainly didn't mind that they didn't do this often anymore. He understood that taking care of their child was much more important than getting some alone time. "You fed him too?"
"Yeah, he should be asleep until at least midnight. If we're lucky, maybe he'll sleep through the night for us," Kim said as Tommy smiled. It was the first time that Nathan had been asleep when he got home, but he understood that Kim wanted some time alone. It had been three months since he was born and they had yet to have a chance together and he had the feeling that Kim had finally reached her breaking point this week. "I need my husband tonight."
"I wish our anniversary had come sooner, we could have relieved some of our stresses earlier," Tommy said with a laugh as Kim nodded in agreement. It had been a long couple of years, what with training a new crop of rangers and getting settled into married life. But they had, somehow, been able to survive and with their third wedding anniversary they had a little one there to celebrate with them. A few years ago, they didn't even think this possible, but now that they had it, they were happier than they had ever been. "It's so good to have you."
"It's good to have you too, Tommy," Kim said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and then walked over to the table and picked up her plate. She had been hungry ever since she had started fixing the food earlier today.
"How long did it take you to fix all of this?" Tommy asked as they fixed their plates and he then sat down across from her.
"I worked on it while Nathan took his nap, it wasn't too much for me Tommy. I'm just lucky to be here and have the two of you," Kim said as Tommy looked up at her and saw the tears glistening in her eyes. Neither of them could ever forget how close they had gotten to not having each other and it depressed them when they talked about. And it always seemed that they brought it up on their anniversary, for some reason they could never avoid it.
"Don't think like that," Tommy said as he reached across the table and grasped her hand. "The past is over Kim, it can't come back and get us now."
"Yeah, I know," Kim said as Tommy rubbed the back of her hand and she sniffled. "But it's hard to forget everything that has happened, everything I did to the two of us."
"I don't expect you to ever forget it, Kim, but I know you won't do something like that again, I know that you'll never leave me," Tommy said as Kim smiled over at him and he then continued eating. "Beautiful...don't concentrate on it, not today. I want us to be happy, for once on our anniversary."
"I wish that I could ignore all of it, Tommy. It just takes me back to other things that I don't want to think about," Kim said as Tommy stood up and walked over to her, to take her hand and pull her away from the table.
"It's over, we've done what we can do about that part of our life," Tommy said as he gave her a gentle kiss and she held onto him tightly. "What's gotten into you? Do you know something that I don't, Kim?"
"I just have this feeling, Tommy," Kim said as she looked up at him and kissed him again. They then heard a crash upstairs and Kim gave Tommy a worried look, as he reluctantly pulled away from her. In any other house, a crash might mean that something fell over, in this house, it might just mean that they were under attack, again. In all honesty that was the first thought they had cross their minds, but they could only hope that they were very wrong.
"We better go see what it is," Tommy said as he walked towards the stairs with Kim trailing behind him. She honestly didn't want to face whatever was up there, but protecting her child was much more important than protecting herself.
"Tommy, come out to play. I know you're here, somewhere," Goldar said as he saw Tommy come up at the far end of the hall and give him a startled look. He had thought that Goldar was dead, obviously he had not been there whent they defeated Zedd, although he could barely believe that.
"Get to Nathan, I'll distract him," Tommy whispered as Kim nodded her head and placed her hands on his back. She was scared about what Tommy might have to do, but she knew she would do the same if she had to. "What do you want?"
"The one thing I have never been able to get, your life," Goldar said as he slashed at Tommy, who was not able to jump out of the way in time and fell to the ground. "Two for the price of one, how nice."
"Kim go," Tommy said as he struggled to his feet and Kim ran down the hall and into Nathan's bedroom. If he could hold out for only a few minutes, they would be fine, Kim would have enough time to protect him and hopefully herself as well. "You want me, leave her out of it."
"I want all the rangers Tommy, not just you. I'm coming back to power," Goldar said as he slashed at him again and Tommy fell to the ground and laid there. He then heard Goldar start up the hall towards his wife and child and he could only hope that by calling the other rangers they would be able to help. He was no good from how deep these gashes were.
"Shh, stay quiet for Mommy," Kim whispered as Nathan peered up at her, after hearing Tommy yell. His face was screwed up and she knew that he was about to wail any second if she didn't manage to calm him down quickly. She was also afraid to pick him up, because if Goldar got past Tommy, then Kim did not want to have to try to defend herself with Nathan in her arms. "Stay quiet, nothing is going to happen to you."
"You sure Kimmie?" Goldar asked as he burst through the door and Kim pushed the crib back even further as she glared at Goldar. "You know, I don't think I'll kill you and Tommy, I think killing him would be much better revenge."
"You won't touch him," Kim said as she got into a defensive position and Nathan let out a loud wail, right on time.
"You never were the strong one, Kimmie. Tommy always had to protect his little princess and he's not here now to do that," Goldar said as he swung down on her and she sank to the floor with a groan.
"Tommy!" Kim cried as she crawled towards the crib, where Goldar had situated himself. He seemed to want to wait until Kim could almost save Nathan before he killed him, but she was not going to let that happen. Nathan was not going to die because of something that Kim and Tommy had done years ago, before he was even thought of. "Tommy!"
"He's not coming for you this time. He won't be able to save either of you," Goldar said as Nathan wailed and Kim reached for the nearest heavy object she could find. If Tommy wasn't coming, she was going to have to fight for the two of them.
"You're not hurting him," Kim said as she stood and swung the heavy lamp at Goldar's head and he fell off to the side. Kim then sank down over the crib and gently rubbed Nathan's cheek. "Daddy's coming, we'll be all right."
"He's already dead," Goldar said as Kim looked up at him and shook her head no. She knew that Tommy couldn't be dead yet, he would hang on long enough to make sure they were all right. She knew that much about what Tommy could and couldn't take.
"Don't be so sure," Tommy said as he walked into the nursery and snatched up the standing lamp. "Get out of here, Kim."
"What about..." Kim started as Tommy shook his head and Kim then grabbed Nathan out of the crib and hurried out of the room as Tommy and Goldar began to fight. Kim hated to know that Tommy was not even considering his health anymore. She knew that meant that he did not think the outcome good for himself and she didn't want to lose him now, but he wouldn't let her say that. He wouldn't give her long enough to wait around to try to help, he knew that Nathan would need at least one of them to live through this.
"Are you okay?" Billy asked as Kim ran out of the house and into his arms. He and Jason had been able to teleport in, they just hoped they were in time to help.
"I'll be fine, he's attacking Tommy," Kim said as Jason looked down at the sword he wielded and then ran into the house. He had not had to use the sword in years, but it was the only weapon he had that might help them against Goldar. All of his other ranger weapons had been destroyed when the Command Center had exploded for the second time.
"Let's sit you down," Billy said as Kim sat down on the front steps and looked down at Nathan. She then began trying to wipe her blood off of Nathan, but it was to no avail, for every bit she wiped off, more replaced it. "I'm going to call the ambulance. Don't move."
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Kim said as she rocked back and forth to calm Nathan down. "It's okay, shh, Mommy's here everything is all right. He won't hurt you."
"Not a minute too late," Jason said as he swung at Goldar and Tommy collasped to the ground next to the dresser. He had been able to keep himself together until Jason got there, now he could have a complete breakdown. He knew that Jason would take care of Goldar, for good if he could manage it. "Come after me, you overgrown monkey."
"Another one," Goldar growled with pleasure as Jason held out his sword and smiled. Goldar had pissed him off this time and he was no longer a teenager, he was more than willing to kill to keep the rest of them safe.
"I'm not defenseless though, your turn to die," Jason said as he began attacking Goldar. Every blow was well matched, but Goldar suddenly slipped and Jason plunged his sword into the beast with all the force in his body.
"It...won't...change...anything," Goldar murmured as he fell to the ground and the golden blood oozed from him. Jason had managed to hit him very close to his heart and it was only a matter of time before he died as well. "He'll still die."
"We'll save him," Jason said as he plunged the sword into Goldar again for good measure and then contacted Trini so that she would be able to get rid of the evidence of an alien life form. That was the last thing that they needed to have around when the EMT's showed up. "Come on, Tommy, you'll be all right. Come on, look at me."
"I don't know," Tommy muttered as he looked down at his slashed chest and let out a low moan. It did not look good to him and he had been through some tough blows before. If these had just been light slashes, he would be all right, but he knew that many of them were far deeper than anything else he had ever dealt with. "I need you to tell Kim something for me."
"You'll be able to tell her yourself, Tommy. Don't talk like that," Jason said as he grabbed the nearest baby blanket and began placing pressure on some of the wounds that were spewing out blood.
"I'm not sure if I will, Jase," Tommy said as they heard the ambulance and Tommy took in a shaky breath. "I don't know if I'll be able to hold on long enough."
"You will Tommy, you will," Jason said as he glanced around the room to see if there was anything else he could use to try to stop the bleeding.
Outside
"Kim, let me put him in the car, you don't need to keep spouting blood on him," Billy said as Nathan had calmed down and Kim reluctantly allowed Billy to take him out of her arms. She was still worried that something might appear and come after him the second that he was away from her. She did, however, know that Billy was right and she also knew he was doing this so he could see how badly injured she was. "Honey, you need to let me take care of you."
"I'm okay Billy, it's just one gash," Kim said as Billy took off his top shirt and ripped it through about mid-way down. He then tied it tightly around her to try to put some pressure on the wound. He knew that she was not going to let him attend to her, but he was going to do what he could before she sent him away. "Go help Jason with Tommy, I can see the ambulance lights, I'll send them up."
"I don't think I should leave you alone," Billy said as Kim glared up at him through the tears and he nodded. He knew a defiant stare from Kim when he saw one and he knew there was no use fighting her anymore. He had to go inside and help Tommy if he could, at all. "I'll go, yell if you need me Kim. Don't let yourself bleed out down here."
"I'll be fine, Billy," Kim said as Billy turned and ran into the house. He knew that he didn't have much more time if Kim was this worried about Tommy.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" Mark asked as he squatted down in front of her and looked at the blood coming through both shirts. He was new at this job, but he had never seen anything like this before. He didn't even know what sort of category to put this injury in before radioing it back to the hospital.
"I'll be fine, go take care of my husband," Kim insisted as Mark was already reaching to attend to her wounds and she swatted his hands away. "Go take care of my husband!"
"Ma'am, I really should take care of you first. This injury is not something that you need to just let sit," Mark said as Andrew walked by him with a backboard and walked to the front door. He knew that they needed to go inside if she was insisting upon it. She was usually very honest from what he remembered about some of his previous calls here.
"Is he upstairs?" Andrew asked as Kim nodded her head yes and Mark gave him an odd look. How did he know about anything about this family already? "You heard the lady, take care of her husband first."
"Why'd you do that? She's out there bleeding to death," Mark said as Andrew just shook his head. He had been on some calls here before and he knew what type of injuries her husband must have if she was this beat up.
"Then her husband is knocking on death's door. They're Oliver's, I've seen some weird injuries from them before and this is the first time I've seen blood. I'm not hopeful for him at all, he usually takes the brunt of whatever happens around here," Andrew said as he walked towards the far room, where a light had been turned on.
"Tommy, come on, stay with me," Jason commanded as Tommy's eyes slid in and out of focus. He knew that if Tommy was this close to passing out that they did not have a very long time to get him to the hospital. "Come on, Tommy."
"I...need you...to...do something...for me," Tommy breathed out as Mark staggered, in order to keep himself upright as Andrew placed the backboard down and Jason and Billy quickly moved Tommy onto it. "Tell Kim that I love her and that I want her to find someone that will love her back. I don't want her to be alone for the rest of her life. Jason, tell her I love her."
"Tommy! Tommy!" Jason yelled as he gave him a rather rough shake and Andrew looked up at him and shook his head. His pulse was fading and he didn't know if they would even make it to the hospital with the way he looked right now.
"He's not dead, but we've got to get him to the hospital quickly to have any chance to save him," Andrew said as he and Mark picked up the backboard. "Hold him in place for us, we can't strap him down with these cuts."
"Oh God," Kim said as she glanced at Tommy and then fell into Billy's arms as she tried to hold hersef together. "Tommy..."
"We can't take you with us, it's going to take everything we have to work on him," Andrew said as Kim nodded and walked over to the car and sat down in the back seat. "Let's load him up and get him out of here."
"Hey baby," Kim whispered as Nathan blinked up at her and she began choking back her tears. She had no clue what she would do if she lost Tommy and she didn't really want to think about it, but it was a reality that she was beginning to have to face. "Daddy...Daddy's going to be all right."
"Hold on," Jason said as he slammed the car into reverse and Kim clutched her stomach as she scraped across the car seat.
"Where's Billy?" Kim asked as Jason sped after the ambulance and looked back at Kim.
"He went in the ambulance, he should be able to help some," Jason said as Kim barely nodded as Nathan let out a yawn and then smiled up at Kim. He didn't know that anything was wrong and she wanted to keep it that way. "Kim, I don't know."
"Neither do I Jase and I don't want to think about that," Kim said as she wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "What will I do if he dies? How will I live without him? How can I live without him? I don't want to do that again, I was miserable without him. I don't want to go back to that."
"We'll worry about that if it happens, they may still be able to save him, Kim," Jason said as Kim nodded. She wasn't as sure as Jason was about his condition, but she knew it was bad. She knew that there was not much of a chance of him making it.
"Let's just get there quickly," Kim said as Jason nodded. He couldn't do much about how fast the ambulance was going and he didn't dare to pass it because he wanted Kim to at least be there if Tommy died before he got to the hospital.
Hospital
"What happened?" Dr. Mizza asked as the EMT's wheeled Tommy in and he gave him a quick once over. The man did not look like he was savable and he didn't think it was worth wasting the morphine on him to try to make him comfortable for only a few moments.
"He was attacked," Billy said as Dr. Mizza gave him a confused look. He was not an EMT, so why was he giving him the medical history?
"I could have figured out that much by myself," Dr. Mizza said as Billy glared at him as they wheeled him into a room.
"Don't be such a smart ass until you've saved him," Billy said as Dr. Mizza gave him an odd look and he then nodded. It had never occured to him to even try to save this man, but the look on the other man's face told him he had better try, at the very least. If he didn't he was about to meet the wrath of something...something that he had never seen flicker in a person's eyes before.
"Kim," Tommy grunted as he broke back into consciousness and Dr. Mizza and Billy gave him a confused look. Neither of them could understand how he was awake right now, after being unconscious for the entire ride to the hospital. "Get... Kim..."
"I'll get her, don't worry, Tommy," Billy said as he walked back out and grabbed Kim from the entrance and pulled her over to where they had situated Tommy. "He wants to see you."
"He's awake?" Kim asked, shocked that he had been able to wake up. She didn't expect that out of him. She expected him to go, quickly and quietly.
"Come on, let's get some O neg in him," Dr. Mizzaz said as the nurse gave him a crazy look, but all he did was glare. If this man was able to talk after what he had been through, the blood might just buy them enough time to save him.
"Tommy..." Kim said as she walked over to his side and reached for his hand and he gave it a hard squeeze.
"Kim...I'm not going to make it," Tommy said as fat tears leaked out and she reached up to wipe them away. She hated to see him cry more than anything else in the world. "I want you to move on...find a father for Nathan...he'll need someone."
"You're his father, he doens't need another one. Hang on, Handsome, they're going to help you," Kim said as Tommy gave her a brief shake of his head no. "Tommy, don't give up."
"I'm not...but I'm not going to make it. I love you Beautiful, I love you," Tommy breathed as she looked down at him and let out an exhausted moan.
"Tommy, you can't be dead! Tommy!" Kim cried as she hugged herself to him and he just lay there. He didn't move, he didn't breathe, he didn't do anything. Kim, unbeknownst to them, was going in and out of consciousness herself and she abruptly went out, saying one last thing. "Handsome...you can't be gone..."
"Ma'am," Dr. Mizza said as Billy pulled him away and wiped his own eyes.
"Give her some time, then I'll get her to let you take care of her," Billy said as Dr. Mizza nodded and then walked out to talk to the EMT's. The man had looked oddly familiar and he wanted to make sure he was thinking of the right man. Billy, however, walking into the waiting room. "He's gone, Jase."
"Oh no," Jason said as he looked down at little Nathan and then up at Billy. "I better go in there, Kim's not going to take this well."
"Sir, you can't be in here," a nurse said as Dr. Mizza looked over at him as he walked over and shook the woman's shoulder.
"Come on, Kim, let's get up so they can take care of you," Jason said as he squatted down to her level and he shook her shoulder again. "Kim...Kim, come on, don't scare me like this."
"Sir," the nurse said as Dr. Mizza sent her out of the room, as Jason gave him a worried look and he then pulled Kim away from Tommy's body and discovered she was limp.
"We'll send her up right away," Dr. Mizza said as he walked Jason into a room where he could place Kim on another bed and he immediately began hooking her up.
"Please, save her, that boy needs one of his parents," Jason said as Dr. Mizza nodded. He, however, knew it was no longer in his hands. He just had to hope that they would be able to operate on her quickly.
----------
"Mr. Scott?" Dr. Fisher said as she walked out into the waiting room and Jason stood up to walk over to her. All of the other rangers had arrived since Tommy's death and they were all hoping that Kim would survive the surgery. They didn't want to lose two rangers to Goldar. "Walk with me for a moment."
"Okay," Jason said as he looked back at the others and walked out of the room.
"She's in a room, but she lost a lot of blood and we had to give her a transfusion. I don't know when she will wake up and we need to monitor her for several days before I will be satisfied with her progress. Whatever she was cut with, didn't really like the stitches that we had to put in her and we may have to restitch her several times before it willl truly take," Dr. Fisher said as Jason looked away from her and she just shook her head. "I wouldn't be too worried about an investigation, we had some people warn us about what it might be and all I want to say is thank you."
"You're welcome, but we still lost one of our best today," Jason said, sadly, as Dr. Fisher nodded. "When can we see her?"
"I think only one person at a time needs to go in there and you can take their baby if you want to," Dr. Fisher said as Jason nodded and then walked back into the waiting room.
"She's alive," Jason announced to the other rangers and they heaved a sigh of relief. "They're still not sure if she's going to really make a recovery, they're going to keep her for a couple of days."
"Can we see her?" Trini asked as Jason nodded his head yes. "Why aren't we going?"
"Because they only want one of us to go back at a time and they said we can take Nathan back," Jason said as they all looked between each other.
"You go, Jase. She'd want to see you and Nate the most," Rocky said as he handed the sleeping baby to Jason.
"I just hope she remembers that Tommy's gone," Jason murmured as Billy nodded his head in agreement. None of them wanted to have to break the news to Kim that Tommy had died.
"Good luck," Trini said as Jason just nodded his head and walked back out of the waiting room.
"Kim..." Jason said, rather hesitantly as he walked into Kim's room and he took in a very deep breath. She did not have a breathing tube, but she was still not in her best shape from what he could tell. "Hey, honey."
"Jase..." Kim groaned as she barely opened her eyes and Jason looked down at her. Nathan had also perked up as he heard his mother's voice and Jason gave him a sad look. He would never get the chance to remember his father and that was what was bothering all of them the most. This was how they had expected Tommy to die, they just hadn't expected it once Tommy had finally settled down into a normal life.
"Hey, Kim," Jason said as the tears began to cloud his vision and Kim let out a dry sob. She knew by the look on Jason's face that he really was gone, that she hadn't imagined it in her barely conscious state.
"So he really is gone? I didn't just imagine him..." Kim said, but she couldn't bring herself to say dying. She then looked at Nathan and shook her head as Jason started to put him in her arms. "I can't do it right now, Jase, please take him back to the others."
"Okay," Jason said as he nodded as he turned to walk out and Kim continued to sob.
"Why are you back?" Trini asked as Jason passed Nathan to her and she gave him a startled look. He then turned and started back towards Kim's room. "What happened?"
"She's doesn't want to see him and right now, I think we need to let her grieve without the added pressure of trying to get back to being a mother right away," Jason said as Trini nodded and began rocking Nathan back to sleep.
"I guess I need to take care of Nathan until Kim is ready," Trini said as Billy nodded and Trini just shook her head. "What happens if she's never ready?"
"She'll be ready, I think it's just too much to process right now," Billy said as he put his arm around her and Nathan let out a bitter cry as he looked up at the familiar faces. The only problem was, it was not his mom or dad and that was who he wanted.
"Kim..." Jason said tentatively, as he walked in and Kim had now forced herself to sit up and was weeping.
"Why him? Why now? Why couldn't he have died when we were teenagers? Before we had a family, before we were actually living a life that we loved," Kim cried as Jason put both of his arms around her and Kim wept on his shoulder. "It's not fair."
"I know, but Goldar's gone and he'll never come back to hurt us again," Jason said as Kim began shaking and he rocked her back and forth.
"But he killed Tommy...he killed him," Kim cried as Jason continued to hold her and she covered her face. "How am I supposed to raise Nate without him?"
"I don't know, sweetie, but we'll help you get through this and so will his parents, as well as yours," Jason said as Kim looked up at Jason and he hastily wiped his tears. "We're all going to miss him Kim and it's going to be hard to live without him. We're going to have to grieve and learn how to live again."
"It wasn't supposed to be this way Jason," Kim cried as Jason held her closely and he rocked her back and forth. He knew that he couldn't do much to calm her, he wasn't very calm himself, but he was a little bit less emotional.
"Kim..." Trini said as she walked in with Nathan and Jason gave her a stern look. "Sorry, Jase, he wouldn't quiet down for me."
"Come here," Kim murmured as she held out her arms and Trini placed Nathan in her arms and she rocked him back and forth. "You're here because of your daddy. You're here because he loved us too much to save himself. Oh God, what am I to do without him?"
End of Flashback
"Oh, Tommy, you should see Nate. He's becoming more and more like you, except he's a fanatic about baseball, I guess I'd rather have that than karate anyday. I don't know if I could take going to karate lessons with him. He hasn't asked about you yet, I know one day he will, then I'll have to tell him the truth. I still love you handsome," Kim said as she kneeled on his grave and placed flowers on it.
She put herself through this at least once a week, but every year on their anniversary she devoted the day to Tommy and everything he had done for them. She knew that many people still gave her sympathetic looks after they found out that her husband had been murdered and there were many people that talked behind her back, saying she needed to move on. She knew that moving on would take an act of God, nothing more, nothing less. Even with Tommy's dying words, she couldn't forget him, she couldn't move on and living without him was a hellish fate. She, however, was able to find happiness in one thing, the child that they had made, who became more and more like his father and would one day understand what an anniversary truly meant for his mother.