Thursday, September 13, 2012

Reflections on the Loss of One's Mother

It's a sad day today - this morning the boyfriend received a call that his mother (pictured at left) had died in her sleep sometime in the early hours of the morning.  Since his mother has been in failing health, it's not as if it was a total surprise.  But, on the other hand over the last few days she had seemed to be doing remarkably better than a couple of weeks ago.   It had been her wish to go quietly without an extended period of pain and suffering and she got her wish. In some ways, like my own late mother, she seems to have simply decided that enough was enough and moved on to the other side in her typical quiet unassuming way.  

I will miss her and always be grateful for the way she accepted me as a part of her family.  Indeed, one of the last times I visited her in the rehab facility where she was recovering from her last hospital stay she referred to the boyfriend and me to a staff person as "her sons."  She understood - unlike Mitt Romney - that gays do indeed have families and that same sex couples count.  She was a very sweet woman.  I can still picture her at my youngest daughter's wedding where she and my father-in-law had a wonderful time.

As is always the case, the boyfriend will no doubt be a pillar of strength for his bereaved father and the rest of his family.  No one is stronger or more organized than my "Martha Stewart" when difficult things need to be organized, done and endured.  I hope readers will keep him in their thoughts and prayers if one is the praying type.

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