Sadness can roll in like waves on dates that were once celebrations.

A loved one’s birthday. Christmas.

Mother’s Day.

It’s been three-and-a-half years since Dak Prescott lost his mother and best friend, Peggy, to colon cancer. Does the Cowboys quarterback find himself becoming more emotional than usual this weekend?

“I can’t say I do, no, on the simple fact to me that every day is Mother’s Day,” Prescott said. “I mean, for what a mom means to a person, what a mom means to a man, what a mom means to a daughter, what a mom means in life, what a dad means in life, you can’t say ‘OK, this day is a day to honor them.’ Every day you honor them.

“It’s just a part of me every day. It’s hard for me to say this is Mother’s Day, I feel tougher than I did two days ago. No I don’t because on Wednesday, December 5, I felt the same way I will on Mother’s Day.”

Prescott recently spoke about the bond with his mother at an event to benefit Kids 2 Camp, a scholarship program for at risk children to attend sports camps put on by the Cowboys quarterback and others. Jeweler David Yurman donated up to 20 percent off the sales from the event to the charity in Peggy Prescott’s name.

“I do everything in my life for her,” Prescott told the gathering of 150-plus that crowded into Yurman’s store at NorthPark Wednesday evening. “I live my life for her.”

Prescott honors his mother every day. It’s only a slight exaggeration to say he does it in the way he puts on his shoes to his approach to his craft to the way he treats other people. She’s in everything he does.

“When I work out, I’m working out to my mom’s expectations, to my expectations,” Prescott said. “No one else’s.”

Peggy Prescott’s one-and-a-half year battle with cancer came to an end in November of 2013. You often hear family members voice the concern that memories of the loved one they lost will fade over time.

That’s never been a concern for Dak Prescott.

“It’s hard to ever forget what my mom told me to do, what my mom wanted me to do,” Prescott said. “I grew up the youngest of three boys, so if a guy was telling me to do something it was my dad or one of my brothers. But if a woman was telling me to do something it was only my mom.

“So her impact, the one woman in my life that has an impact on my life for the rest of my life is my mom. I mean, I’ll carry it with me forever. It will never be changed. The things that she taught me, the things she told me how to be a man, the things that she portrayed as a woman of putting other people first, of being selfless, hard work and effort, it’s something I try to mimic every day in my life.”

Prescott describes the relationship with his mother as “crazy close.” Everyone gets mad at their parents at some point. A young Prescott was no different. But when he did become upset, when he wanted to hold a grudge or feel as if he was treated unfairly, he couldn’t.

“She was literally my best friend,” Prescott said.

Prescott has always been close to his brothers. He has their names, Tad and Jace, tattooed on the back of his arms.

He has his mother’s name tattooed on his wrist. He sees her every time he looks down.

“I love my brothers to death, but my mom was something that no one could ever mimic that relationship,” Prescott said. “My brothers were my good friends, they were my best friends.

“But they weren’t my best-est of friends.”

This isn’t uncommon. When he got beat up, he didn’t run to his older brothers. He ran to her. When he got hurt playing tackle football with brothers who are five and six years older, he didn’t let them know how much he hurt. He went to his mother.

When Prescott reflects on these moments he comes to a realization.

“She wasn’t really comforting me,” Prescott said. “She was telling me, ‘you’re either going to be tough or you’re going to stay inside and sit with me. You’re going to be tough and go out there and hang with them.’

“I realized this is a lady who loves me as a son, obviously, but she has my best interests. From that moment on I realized what she had in mind and what she wanted to do for me for the rest of my life.”

Teammates, coaches and others who come in contact with Prescott are often struck by his focus and maturity. The young athlete is quick to tell you that’s not just him.

It’s also about Peggy Prescott. She shaped the man he’s become.

“I lost somebody who taught me the way to live life,” Prescott said. “When she taught me the way to live life, I knew not to get shaken, not to get sidetracked, not to get off the path. My mother taught me to do these things. She did teach me and stay on path and allow her to be my star.

“She’s the reason that I live life. She’s the reason I have a story today.”

“That’s the lady that taught me life.”