Ave Maria
Ma passed away early monday morning.
It was quiet and she was sleeping, it was about 130 in the morning when the Hospice came and she was pronounced.
She had been having a little trouble all day but in the end she was calm and resting. there was a small army here all day and she did "talk" as it were to my brother and sister-in-law from Calif via the phone. We held it to her ear and they just spoke. We know she could hear as anytime any one of us were in there it was our voices and such she would "react" to. Breathing would ease, eyes would move and such like that.
We had all wound down for the night and went separate directions to try to relax and maybe go to bed. Sister Joanne was in her room, Nikki was in our room, my other sister Sue and I were out in the garage and my niece Erin (Sues' daughter) was in the living room watching TV. Erin came outside and told us she wasn't breathing, or at least she wasn't making that raspy sound anymore. (It was like a deep bronchial gurgling thing what have you.) We came in, my sister sat down with her tried to get some kind of response but none came. After about a minute or so I called the Hospice nurse and she was here within a half hour.
We all had a little bit of alone time with her that day and finally when she was alone in the room she very quietly let go. It was easier this time compared to my fathers' passing, something about that chance to say good bye and thank you for everything helped.
The California clan is coming in this week and the services are Friday and Saturday. The announcement will be in Thursdays' paper.
I'm alright I guess, putting the house back together is today's project. All the arrangements have been made and the phone calls have slowed down so it is finally quiet here. Waiting for the Hospice to come and pick up the bed. Putting the house back together will avoid that untouchable shrine mentality that may arise. I want to avoid that as much as possible.
I am going back to work tomorrow, which we all have to do. It's better then sitting around thinking about it for 3-4 days at a time. I think that if I had not mentioned going back to work "this soon" no one else would have gotten back to their thing. You figure that everything is already taken care of, no more calls to make, no more arrangements, all that was done Monday. Also this thing we were all living with lasted 4 months, I knew from the beginning what the outcome would be so a mourning period was never really a factor for me, I was in a constant state of loss. Along the way everyone else grew to know and finally accept what this was and what this time would be. I guess that makes things easier.
It was quiet and she was sleeping, it was about 130 in the morning when the Hospice came and she was pronounced.
She had been having a little trouble all day but in the end she was calm and resting. there was a small army here all day and she did "talk" as it were to my brother and sister-in-law from Calif via the phone. We held it to her ear and they just spoke. We know she could hear as anytime any one of us were in there it was our voices and such she would "react" to. Breathing would ease, eyes would move and such like that.
We had all wound down for the night and went separate directions to try to relax and maybe go to bed. Sister Joanne was in her room, Nikki was in our room, my other sister Sue and I were out in the garage and my niece Erin (Sues' daughter) was in the living room watching TV. Erin came outside and told us she wasn't breathing, or at least she wasn't making that raspy sound anymore. (It was like a deep bronchial gurgling thing what have you.) We came in, my sister sat down with her tried to get some kind of response but none came. After about a minute or so I called the Hospice nurse and she was here within a half hour.
We all had a little bit of alone time with her that day and finally when she was alone in the room she very quietly let go. It was easier this time compared to my fathers' passing, something about that chance to say good bye and thank you for everything helped.
The California clan is coming in this week and the services are Friday and Saturday. The announcement will be in Thursdays' paper.
I'm alright I guess, putting the house back together is today's project. All the arrangements have been made and the phone calls have slowed down so it is finally quiet here. Waiting for the Hospice to come and pick up the bed. Putting the house back together will avoid that untouchable shrine mentality that may arise. I want to avoid that as much as possible.
I am going back to work tomorrow, which we all have to do. It's better then sitting around thinking about it for 3-4 days at a time. I think that if I had not mentioned going back to work "this soon" no one else would have gotten back to their thing. You figure that everything is already taken care of, no more calls to make, no more arrangements, all that was done Monday. Also this thing we were all living with lasted 4 months, I knew from the beginning what the outcome would be so a mourning period was never really a factor for me, I was in a constant state of loss. Along the way everyone else grew to know and finally accept what this was and what this time would be. I guess that makes things easier.