Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tough Times

The Holidays. Counselors always say that the holidays are hard for a lot of folks. Ours are usually fine, since we get along with family. But for us it is also a tremendous amount of work, since most of the entertaining takes place here, and many times includes overnight guests, which means that the "living spaces" of the house have to be as lovely and clean as the "public areas."

My folks and my son and his wife came and stayed at Thanksgiving and we had a grand time. We were 20+ for dinner, and invited guests in for leftovers in the following days. But, my mom had several scans scheduled for the week she went back home. The scans showed the worst possible thing that they could show--all a very big surprise to everyone, including the doctors.

It became obvious that it was only a matter of time for her, and we all hoped for longer rather than shorter. After New Year's I headed south to my parents home, but there were phone calls saying that Mom was not doing well at all. She was getting the best of care, and was comfortable, but it was obvious that her decline was rapid. Stunningly rapid. She passed in the wee hours, as they say many souls do, only a little more than a month from the date of the first scan.

I was grateful that I got to say goodbye. We didn't get to talk much, but she told us that she loved us. I came home, and we planned her memorial service. Family and friends came back to our house, and we had a pretty good party in her honor. I'm only sorry it wasn't her birthday party, but then, eventually this day would have come anyhow. Sorry, Mom, it was so short. Somehow 87 years doesn't seem like enough.