January 2011 -- A Month to Remember

Never could I have imagined a month like this one. It is certainly one to be documented in my journal and personal history for review over and over again.

A year ago, I did a blog post on my mother's failing health. Little did I know then that things would transpire as they have. Mom passed away a week ago, Saturday, January 22, 2011. Needless to say it has been a rough week! It may take me some time to get this post completed, but I wanted to make sure I got it started before the month's end.

My mom was my very best friend in the universe, and I miss her like you will never know or understand. I talked to her every day, at least once. I took care of house cleaning and other stuff every Saturday, for years. I saw her at her best and in the frailest stages of failing health. She had most people fooled about how sick she really was -- but not me. I just hoped and prayed deep down inside that she would live forever because I knew it would be so difficult for all of us to accept her loss. I bought her new pajamas only a week before her passing and a new outfit as well. I know she wore the pajamas but the outfit -- she tried it on if that counts for something. We had some great expereinces in the 56 years I called her "Mom" -- and I must say most of them were positive, but we did have our ups and downs. I think what is most upsetting about losing Mom is that her mind was good -- in fact, her mind and spirit were trapped in a rickety old body that couldn't see or hear or maintain oxygen. The last week of her life, she put up a good front -- one last trip to Sam's, one last doctor's appointment, a few last birthday catalog orders, one last attempt at balancing her checkbook, one last time to fix Dad Sunday dinner, and more . . . Mom kept living until the very last breath and then her body died and her spirit moved on.



In addition to my mom's passing, I lost another dear friend, Judy W, just a young woman compared to my mom.