Motherless daughters: Coming together

On a mountaintop in Northern California, a group of women met for the first time. They call themselves "motherless daughters." These women were all age 21 or younger when their moms died – many from illnesses like cancer, some more suddenly – and might find their life stories divided into a "before" and an "after." Hope Edelman is the mother of Motherless Daughters. Since the first retreat in 2016, more than 500 women have attended at locations across the country. "We say at every retreat, there may be 20 women who came to the retreat, but there's 40 women in the room," Edelman said. "And it's a way to reaffirm that these aren't just women who died; they're also women who lived, and many of them lived joyously." CBS News The gatherings, like this one at Mount Madonna, include deep conversation, yoga, the sharing of meals, and the sharing of tears. One woman said, "I don't remember her voice." And even though some participants call this "sad camp," there is lots of laughter. One woman said her mother loved to play pranks: "She would steal people's stuff at work and, like, leave them ransom notes to find it!" Edelman says the women who come here feel seen. "Our mother was usually the person who saw us," she said. "So, many of us have not felt seen for a long time." Hope Edelman (second from left) at a Motherless Daughters retreat. CBS News I know this pain. I, too, am a motherless daughter . I'm now years older than my mom ever lived to be. …