Journey

I’ve returned.

This journey was a difficult one, and I thank all of you who wrote, sent best wishes, and prayed for my mother and I. I found it inspiring and amazing that this little blog, set in the middle of nowhere, could receive the generous amount of good hearted wishes it did.

When I visited in early November, Mom complained of a slightly sore rib, and wondered how she’d pulled a muscle, as she hadn’t done any garden work lately! After Thanksgiving, she was diagnosed with cancer throughout her body. By Christmas, there was only slim hope left, but she tried one shot at chemotherapy. January was the hardest, watching her lose weight and energy. Her younger sister and baby brother showed up Saturday, the 23rd, and she whispered her goodbyes to them. She lingered until early Friday morning, when I awoke at 1:45 am, and couldn’t hear her breathing. She died January 29th.

Her funeral was February 3rd, and she would have liked it. She had planned most of it years ago, written her obituary, and set up legal details to help us kids as Daddy had set up details for her so many years ago. She was an efficient, hard-working, virtuous woman.

This photo will become a treasure for me… the last three generation photo we took last April.

So I am absent my friend… my instructor… my mentor… my inspiration.

If we all could meet Death with the Grace and Faith she did, we’d live in a better world.