Thanks, everyone. It's a really hard time. We told the kids last night. They took it hard, but they needed to know, and I'm glad at least we can be open with each other.
We all (me, Mark, the kids, my parents, and Mark's mom) took a big trip together this summer, to Portugal, Spain, and a little bit of France. I'm so, so grateful now that we made that happen, and that we'll always have those memories. I have a lot of sad and guilty feelings about not being able to spend more time with my parents since the kids were born, but in fact, we did see them quite a bit, at least until covid disrupted everything, and I think both kids are old enough now that they will always remember her.
Anyway. Hug your people tight.