Two Years

It's been two years.  Two years since my Mother left the planet.  When she passed away she was looking up at all the pictures of family on the wall.  Whether she could see them, I don't know.  I do know how special family was too her, though.   Anyone who has had a family member pass knows the mixed emotions of making the family calls.  On one hand there is the pain and sorrow of the event and on the other is the feeling of knowing there are others still with you and comforting you.  As I was making my call to my cousin, Nick, whom I shared countless family information researching family genealogy, I discovered he too had died, just before my Mother.  His wife could not find my number to call me.

Aunt Helen, Mother with Aunt Bea.  

Three days after what would have been my Mother's 89th birthday, my grandson Anthony was born. What joy we all felt!  My father was able to hold his second great grandson and we all felt a sense of relief as he smiled.  We had not seen many smiles from him since March.  When  Aunt Helen, mother's sister,  died in September we decided it was best to just not tell him.  Helen lived in Tennessee and was 74 years of age.

 Daddy's health  was in a downward spiral.  He was lost and confused.  Nothing seemed to cheer him up.  In November he fell and broke his hip.  Although, he came through the surgery he just didn't have the strength or will to go on.  He passed on November 15th.

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It is inevitable as you age your older relatives begin to die. Both my folks came from large families. My Mother had six brothers and two sisters.  My father had four sisters and two brothers.  That means many aunts, uncles and cousins!  On March 1, 2014 my other Aunt Helen passed away in Oregon.  Aunt Helen called me and my folks regularly during the last few years to check up on things!  Her husband, Earl, was one of my mother's brothers.

Uncle Luke

August 15th rolled around (my daughter, Keely's birthday) and we received work that Uncle Luke  died.  He was 87 and also lived in Oregon.  Luke was my mother's brother.

Daddy, Uncle Frank and Mother

In 2013, we learned that our Uncle Frank (also my mother's brother) had cancer.  In November of 2014, he too left the planet to join his parents, brothers and sisters.

And so ended the two years of family  human deaths.  - Both parents, two uncles, two aunts and 1 cousin.

As we all know, our pets are part of our families and studies show that when they die it is just as devastating if not more then family members.

In August, 2014, we had to make the decision to euthanize our 20 year old Calico cat, Sophie and our 11 year old Duck tolling Retriever, Jena.  This was done within 2 days of one another.  

To borrow a phrase that my Mother used to use " Sometimes, it boggles my mind".  Has it only been two years?

They say life doesn't give you things you can't handle.  I'm still here, so it must be true!

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It Is Every Mother's Worst Fear

...That she will outlive her child.
We talk about it.  We fear it. Sometimes we have nightmares.
And then it happens.  In an instant, the child you brought into this world is gone.  Gone!  And no begging, pleading or praying can bring them back.
It didn't happen to me.  Thank God!  But it could have......

It happened to a friend of mine.  A friend who is a kind loving person to everyone that knows her.  Three days before Thanksgiving her son was shot down as he rode his bike to work.  He had children.  He worked in the medical profession.  He helped others.  It made no sense.

This type of senseless murder has happened in my own family to a cousin.  It has happened to a high school friend shortly after graduation who was working at a service station.  And each time there was a Mother who has lost her child and who will never look at life the same way as she did the moment before she was notified.

This Thanksgiving I will say an extra prayer for those who have lost their children to violence and be extra thankful for my children and granchildren.  I hope you will do the same.