Thanks Mom by Jan Wolterman (best ereader for pc TXT) đ
- Author: Jan Wolterman
Book online «Thanks Mom by Jan Wolterman (best ereader for pc TXT) đ». Author Jan Wolterman
I had never touched a dead body before. It wasnât my mom in the casket. It was a cold, rock hard figure that only looked like her. And it totally freaked me out even though I had had plenty of time to prepare for her death. Only by playing her âlast wordsâ over and over in my head did I find the strength to make it through her funeral.
My mother, Mimi, was like Kevinâs mom from the television show, The Wonder Years. Warm and loving with words of advice as needed but silent support always. She was a typical homemaker until her children were in high school, then she joined the work force. Very aware and loving, my mom was more than my parent. She truly was my best friend.
After I married and had kids, Mimi told me to enjoy them while they were young because âthey grow up in a heartbeat and get their own lives before you know itâ. Little did I know that her own heart wouldnât beat long enough to see her grandsons even make it to high school.
I can still vividly recall the surgeon marching into my motherâs hospital room, after surgery to clear her occluded artery, and exploding in apoplectic rage when he saw mom smoking in bed. The doctorâs frustration poured out in a verbal assault that left Mimi in tears and promising, once again, to try to quit âthose damnâ cigarettes.
Like millions of other smokers around the world, Mom valiantly tried to loosen the addictive grip of nicotine addiction. She knew what she was up against but she vowed that someday she would finally be able to kick the habit.
Someday came too soon. It came in the form of a massive stroke that left her brain damaged but not paralyzed. Mimi now became my âchildâ and I became her âmomâ. Together with my brother and father, we fed her, bathed her, changed her diaper, and loved her. For the next ten years my mom, due to aphasia, barely spoke a word. She often understood what we said but was unable to make the brain connection to respond.
One morning, as we were helping her shower, she collapsed in our arms. This final stroke landed her back in the hospital and hospice was called in to help us deal with whatever time she had left. It wasnât long. Within ten days, the call came, early one morning. My mother had died.
My sister had been sitting by Mimiâs bedside in momâs final moments. Though comatose for the previous five days, Judi said mom suddenly opened her eyes to focus on some one or some thing at the foot of her bed. An angel perhaps? Or maybe it was her deceased mom urging her to leave behind a body that no longer served her. Regardless of who or what, Momâs eyes followed this âentityâ to the window. Then she was gone.
The next day, while driving to the funeral home, my father quietly related something that had happened the night before. Dad had been sitting alone in the dark in his living room after the call came, trying to come to terms with her death. Suddenly, he said he could have sworn he heard Mimi talking to him with her voice as clear as a bell. When I excitedly asked what she said, he answered with a slight hesitation.
âAs though she were sitting next to me, I heard your mother say, âBill, itâs beautiful up here!â He quickly added, âBut donât tell anyone or theyâll think Iâm crazy.â
With a sigh of relief I felt some of my sadness lift as I absorbed momâs assurance to us that death doesnât take away our life, it only transforms it.
Attending her funeral was heart wrenching and emotionally draining. I continually reminded myself that though she wasnât present in body, she was present in Spirit. And as others spoke about how kind and loving my mother was throughout her life, I couldnât help but think maybe itâs beautiful âup thereâ for her because she made life âdown hereâ so beautiful for so many of us.
Thanks mom. I count you among the greatest blessings in my life and I look forward to being with you again when itâs my time to return home.
Publication Date: 02-19-2010
All Rights Reserved
Comments (0)