Since my last post, my family suffered a major loss. Thursday, January 22nd my MeMom (my Dad's mom) suffered a massive stroke at the nursing home she was living in. Things looked dismal that evening, but she hung on until family could fly into town and on Monday, January 26th at around 9:20pm, after being off oxygen since that morning, she left us.
It's funny how things happen. I went to the hospital that evening noting that I did not see my aunt's car in the parking lot. I did see my uncle's rental however. When I got to her room the door was only just ajar enough so that I could see it was dimly lit inside. I lightly knocked, but I heard nothing from inside the room. I headed back to the elevator texting my mom that my aunt and cousin were longer there and that my uncle must have called it a night in the chair in MeMom's room. Just as I stepped into the elevator, my cousin whom I texted earlier letting her know I was stopping by replied to me saying they were picking up dinner and that our Uncle was in the room. She said I should hang out with him until they returned.
For the next twenty minutes I sat on the small plastic like couch in my MeMom's hospital room while my uncle sat next to me in a reclining chair going over the days events with me and what we could expect in the near future. He made a call to his wife, my aunt, who was still at their home in Seattle. While he talked to her about flying in, I texted my mom and listened to my MeMom's distressed breathing. Since I had been there that evening, there had been gaps of silence that I eventually got used to as she would start back up with the harsh tones coming from her throat. My uncle continued to talk through one of these silent periods, but after an extended measure of time, longer than the pauses that had come previously, my uncle interrupted his call telling my aunt not to worry, but that he thought he should end their call. He went over to MeMom when my aunt and cousin walked in the door. My cousin came over to me on the couch and gave me a tight squeeze as she sat next to me before my uncle interjected into our greetings and told us to come over to hold MeMom's hands. My aunt told her that it was ok and that she could go now. Then she left her earthly body, but was still there with us as we shed tears knowing how much we would miss this funny, big hearted woman. Then my aunt asked me to say a prayer. My cousin would joke later that despite being her daughter and standing right there as well, that they figured I was closest to getting to where our MeMom was headed anyway. On the spot and emotional, I said something like:
Dear God, we give you Shirley -
a wonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
Take care of her.
Let her be with her husband, her mother
and brothers and sisters
And watch over us always.
Amen.
We were lucky to be there with her when she left this world and count ourselves so. Perfect timing. She was as tough and brave in that hospital as she was in life. Despite a massive stroke, she held on so that the people she loved and cared for most could not only come together to be at her bedside and say what they needed to say, but so that we could also come to terms with the inevitable as a family.
My only hope is that the day we laid her to rest beside her husband is not the last day that our family all comes together like that. MeMom would smile to see us all together again. She was so proud of her family and I hope that we can make her proud again.
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