Saturday, January 6, 2018

Thank you, Mom, and Fare Thee Well

“She has lived a long life and she’s tired,” the nurse said when I visited Mom. “Her heart has pumped so many times.”

I had planned to visit my mom in early February and then had upped the date to mid-January, then January 8, and finally January 4. I just felt that it was right for me to be with my mom and brother. Mom had been in the hospital for pneumonia because of her weak heart valves, and then she had been transferred to a facility for strength rehabiliation. It was not to be, though, and Mom quickly moved from chatting to her roommate about her life and family to not wanting to leave her bed for therapy, to not eating or drinking, and on to her last inward journey.

I was with her the day after my arrival, and she was gone twelve hours later. Of the five aspects of existence--earth, water, air, fire, and space--at the end she was fire and space, light radiating, having let go of the body. That is how I remember her, the radiant life of love and devotion. She taught me so much through example.

My wife said she felt that Dad was coming to be with Mom during the transition, and I feel that was true. Mom never had a driving license. Her eyes had been damaged as a child, and her sight was never good enough for her to pass the vision test. Dad took her everywhere, the old trucker with the love of his life. Yes, Dad is hooking up the rig, Mom is stocking the ice chest, and they are taking off to where there are no boundaries, no borders, just open road ahead, on and on and on.

Mom and Dad, Godspeed and fare thee well.



1 comment: