Ice Cream Land

To start off, this might sound very immature/childish/etc., and it is, it totally is, but that's ok because it means so much.  And to me, childlike things are the most meaningful what with their innocence purity and whole-heartedness.
Relating to my last post, right after my brother died when I was four, my mother, as well as everyone else in my family, was intensely depressed.  And even though she was going through the hardest period of time in her life, she still tried so hard to make sure I wasn't as depressed as her.  She went about this in many different ways. Through daily talks and an amazing patience and understanding, she was able to make me feel that everything was going to be alright.  I remember her telling me to never be afraid to cry and that she would always be there for me when I wanted to vent.  And although in hindsight I can clearly see how messed up everything was for us, at the time her small everyday actions made me feel as if everything was fine and normal.
But the best thing she gave to me during this trying time was a coping mechanism for me to hold onto whenever she wasn't around and I felt sad. This coping mechanism was an imaginary land called Ice Cream Land made just for her and me where no one else could intrude.  I can still remember her saying to me one night, when I was so afraid to sleep because of a nightmare I had had the prior night, "It's ok A.J., we'll be together when you go to sleep, just think real real hard and you'll wake up in Ice Cream Land!  And I'll be there with you!"  And that helped me so much!  When she told me this, I was overcome with a sense of bliss and serenity in which I didn't have to worry about the problems and the fears that I had to face when I was awake.
Even now, whenever I'm afraid or depressed I just close my eyes and go to Ice Cream Land, and slide on the vanilla slides and bounce on the (for some reason) delightfully springy cherries.  And I can't thank my mother enough for what she did for me.  She gave me the power to cope with the difficult things and to simply just take a minute to breath.  So shout out to Catherine, solid momming!

It's pretty much this.