I am sitting in the emergency room with my Mom. She had a stroke in March of this year (2011) and she has had good days and bad days. Some days she is lucid and joking like her pre-stroke self and in a matter of minutes, she has taken a mental trip to a place and time from years long gone. You just never know where she might be when you enter her room at the rehab center. She always knows who we are, but the current location seems to be an elusive wisp that is difficult for her to grasp. She's still Momma.
It is interesting to have observed the progression of her thoughts over the last few months; Kilgore, Corsicana, Tyler, Dallas, Overton, and other towns where she spent her childhood and youth. All these places and the stories that go along with the memory wisp are sometimes amusing, some times sad. She seems to always be traveling home to Nederland from these places and almost always she is with Daddy. Sometimes she was alone because Daddy had to go and find a house or do something else, but he was always coming back for her and she would be home tomorrow.
I have tried to figure out what all the bits and pieces mean -- they are sort of like trying to piece together a document that has been through a shreadder -- and I have discovered one very interesting fact, Mom seems to be going through her memory file and dealing with things that have been pushed way back into the deep recesses of her memory filing cabinet. To me it appears she has decided it is time to clean out the drawer and she is dealing with each thing, big and small, but equally important to her at the moment. When she has thoroughly dealt with every nuance, she mentally stamps it "finished" and moves on to the next item in the file.
Each memory and thought has become pages in Mom's life, bound together with the peace that only God can give. So today, I realized she is just turning the pages of her book, her life, and we get to re-live it with her.
....As you see at the top of this posting, part one was written in August. Today is December 13, 2011. Mom passed away on September 7, 2011. She went gently with Daddy watching over her, holding her hand, and he was kissing her as she took her last Earthly breath. In that split second, Mom left the protective care of Daddy, her Lover and Hero, and walked into the sheltering arms of Jesus, Mom's Redeemer and King. Dad had protected and provided for her for 70 years, now Jesus will care for her for eternity. So while she is waiting for us to meet her over there, she is enjoying a most joyous family reunion, Aunt Ruby and Uncle Elmer, Birdie and Calvin, Ruth and Claude, Little Bart and Baby Andy, all there, all together, and love abounding.
"Mom, we miss you, but we will keep you close to our hearts and talk about you often...see you soon,"
BJ
