40 Thoughtful Loss of Mother Quotes to Share with a Friend Who's Grieving on Mother's Day

Mother's Day can be a celebratory time, but, for many, it is an emotional day, and it's important to be mindful of the people who may be suffering. There are many reasons that a person might not feel like celebrating the holiday, but it can be a particularly difficult time for someone who has lost their mother. Seeing all of the social media messages and photos of people spending time with their loved ones can surface the loss, even if it happened years in the past. If you have a friend who is struggling, consider sending him or her one of these meaningful quotes. If you have lost your mother yourself, think about these as a tribute to the woman you lost.

Of course, a day like Mother's Day can come with mixed emotions. You can grieve a loss while still feeling joy about what you have. For more meaningful messages, read our Bible verses about Mother's Day and remember to be gentle with yourself and others.

• "In Vietnamese, the word for missing someone and remembering them is the same: nhớ." —Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
• “I wonder if my first breath was as soul-stirring to my mother as her last breath was to me.”― Lisa Goich-Andreadis, 14 Days: A Mother, A Daughter, A Two Week Goodbye
  
• “We cannot think our way out of grief. We must feel our way out of grief.” ― Angie Corbett-Kuiper
  
• "Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity." —Terri Guillemets
• “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” —Thomas Campbell
• “Love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” —J.K. Rowling
• “There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part, so just give me a happy middle and a very happy start.” — Shel Silverstein, Every Thing On It
• “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” — Havelock Ellis
• "There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart." —Mahatma Gandhi
• "No daughter and mother should ever live apart, no matter what the distance between them." —Christie Watson
• "What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." —Helen Keller
• "Grief and love are conjoined, you don't get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy." —Jandy Nelson

• "Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." —Rumi
• "When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure." —Unknown
• "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk in my own garden forever." —Alfred Tennyson
• "Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." —The Wonder Years
• "A mom's hug lasts long after she lets go." —Unknown
• "You don't go around grieving all the time, but the grief is still there and always will be." —Nigella Lawson
• "Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place." —Sarah Dessen
• "Mom, I am missing you today but I know that you will always be with me in my heart." —Karen Kostyla
• "Losing a mother is one of the deepest sorrows a heart can know." —Unknown
• "Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy." —Eskimo legend
• "Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated." —Alphonse de Lamartine
• "Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity." —Terri Guillemets
• "We understand death only after it has placed its hands on someone we love." —Madame de Stael

• "Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure. You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure." — Renee Wood
• "The world changes from year to year, our lives from day to day, but the love and memory of you, shall never pass away." — Unknown
• "There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart." — Mahatma Gandhi
• "No matter how prepared you think you are for the death of a loved one, it still comes as a shock, and it still hurts very deeply." — Billy Graham
• "I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence." — Alyson Noel
• "Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart." — José N. Harris
• "Grief is like the ocean, it comes in waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim." —​ Vicki Harrison
• "And then I heard the angel say, ‘She’s with you every day.'" — Unknown
• "Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality." — Emily Dickinson
• "But she wasn’t around, and that’s the thing when your parents die, you feel like instead of going in to every fight with backup, you are going into every fight alone." — Mitch Albom

• "If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them." — James O’Barr
• "Losing people you love affects you. It is buried inside of you and becomes this big, deep hole of ache. It doesn't magically go away, even when you stop officially mourning." — Carrie Jones
• "I knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. You didn't get past something like that, you got through it." — Jodi Picoult
• "There is something about losing a mother that is permanent and inexpressible—a wound that will never quite heal." — Susan Wiggs
• "My mom is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune." — Graycie Harmon

Katie Bowlby

Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers gift guides, product reviews, crafts, and TV shows like Yellowstone. She’s currently stitching up a cross-stitch pattern for the magazine’s next issue