Here's a thing about the death of your mother, or anyone else you love: You can't anticipate how you'll feel afterward. People will tell you; a few may be close to right, none exactly right.

A. She spent five years as a Tribune national correspondent based in Atlanta. from Pomona College.

About four times a year Schmich and fellow Tribune metro columnist Eric Zorn write a week of columns that consist of a back-and-forth exchange of letters. Born in Savannah Georgia the oldest of eight children Schmich grew up in Georgia attended high school in Phoenix Arizona and earned a B. In addition to writing her column Schmich was the author of the long-lived comic strip Brenda Starr from 1985 through its final appearance in January 2011 and has worked as a professional barrelhouse and ragtime piano player.