Tuesday, April 17, 2018
The past few months were so hard on Mom. She spent more time in 2018 in the hospital than at home. We had grown into a routine with each new medical issue that popped up - we'd decide who the doctor would be, make the appointment and then decide if we'd have lunch after, or breakfast together before the appointment. Mom loved her some IHOP on a "doctor day". The ER visits were so plentiful, we were on a first name basis with most of the staff and they were awesome to her and to me.
It's important that everyone reading this know how hard and valiant Mom fought these past few months, often to the point of physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion. Yet she continued fighting and proved a whole bunch of doctors wrong :) - she always enjoyed proving a doctor wrong. But in the end, she just couldn't do it anymore. She was so tired.
In one of her final bouts in ER, her BP dipped and she faded out on the table. The Dr. told me to prepare for the worst, but yet again she came back. She opened her eyes, looked at me and told me she saw my dad and he had a message for me, "Rich stop worrying, theres no more need to worry". 3 weeks later she was gone.
I learned so much from my parents as a kid and growing up but I think I learned more in the past 4 months from my mom than an entire lifetime. She faced the end with humor, humility and a constant effort to let me know how much she loved our family and friends.
She wanted us to move forward with humor, love and hope together.
And so we shall.
