A Year Ago Today

A year ago today I woke up early in the guest room of my Aunt Bonnie's house to my cell phone ringing. It was Aunt Bonnie and she was telling me that my Mom had passed away. It was an expected phone call, she'd been under Hospice care for about two weeks at that point, but still a tough one to get. Well, to be fair, it was almost like Hospice was assisting Aunt Bonnie because she did 99% of my Mom's care especially in those two weeks.

My mom was a great person. She loved her family and she loved being a mom. She spoke her mind about most things but also knew when to stay quiet to keep the peace (Gee, I must have gotten that from her). She had a song for everything and she loved to have fun. The big joke in the family was always what a klepto she was. Honestly, I think her entire steak knife set came from restaurants (and that's not all). But I think what I realized about her in the last year of her life that I, for some reason, had never noticed was what a great outlook she had. With everything she was going through I don't know that I ever heard her say that it wasn't fair or anything like that. She had her days, like anyone would and she was entitled to those - and more. But even when she called me crying because her hair was falling out she said that when it grew back she'd better have a head of hair like Julia Roberts. Right up to end my Mom dealt with her illness her way and pretty much did things her way and I think that, at least, was fair.

I thought I'd just share some pictures of my Mom. Most of them are older pictures but those are my favorites. Most won't have captions because I'm not sure what year most were taken or where they were taken.

This one and the one right below are probably two of my favorite
pictures of my Mom that we came across last year.

Seriously, if this was my Moms idea of sexy then
I'm amazed that my sister and I were born.

Mom and me :)

 

I'm thinking this was my first birthday

 

Mom and my sister Shauna

Mom and Dad at our rehearsal dinner

Mom and Aunt Bonnie on Christmas Eve of 2009. I'm really glad that
I went home for Christmas that year. It was our last Christmas all together and I was able to
tell her that she was going to have her first grandchild. She was so happy.

Funny how things work out :)

I feel like I have a pretty straightforward outlook on things. I tried not to kid myself bad situations. Don't get me wrong, when we found out my Mom was sick I absolutely knew that she had to get better. But when I was told, a little over a year ago, that she was going home on Hospice care I didn't let myself think that she'd get better. I was still emotionally unprepared to lose her. I know we all were. But I like to think of myself as lucky. I had a great Mom and I learned a lot from her. I was lucky to have her as my Mom for 29 years.