It has been a little over a year since my last post to my blog. I am so sorry for my absence, but sometimes life has a way of getting in the way of things that we love to do, like to do, want to do.
As I may have mentioned in previous posts, we moved my mother in with us from Florida a little over 5 years ago. At the time, we realized it was best, if she was no longer on her own, and was around family. No one realizes how much time anyone has, and so for the last five years, she lived in our house.
Sometimes, you don't notice the deteriorating physical and mental health of your loved one, when it is happening right it front of you, 24-7, every single day. Hindsight is always 20/20. I do recognize, that when my mom, had her heart attack at 95 years of age, things were changing.
She was more forgetful, couldn't move like she used to, was content to stay at home more often, although she never missed her hair appointment, every Friday. She was falling, even though we tried to take every precaution possible, and keep her safe. Especially important, when one has a stint, and is required to take blood thinners.
At the beginning of 2019, her health and mental condition were definitely going downhill. She no longer wanted to join the family for dinner, because she didn't want to tackle steps. I ended up bringing meals to her, and took over day to day hygiene, making sure she had a shower every day, and had clean clothes.
In May, 2019 she fell, and I had to call the paramedics and ambulance. Once in the hospital, she had a lot of medical issues, including a brain bleed, internal bleeding and an infection. It was like the perfect storm of all of these things going on at one time. After a week in the hospital, it was recommended she go to Managed Health care, to get some rehabilitation. One week in there, she suffered a stroke and landed back in the hospital for another week. Back to another Managed Health care facility. She spent exactly 9 days there, before she landed back in the hospital again.
It was at that point, we made the decision to bring her home and with the help of Hospice, she be surrounded by family, and in familiar surroundings. After she was home for about two weeks, I realized I couldn't care for her all by myself, and also had an outside agency coming in 3 mornings a week. I don't know what I would have done without the help of the wonderful crew at Hospice, and the additional care provided by the outside agency.
Sadly, my mom passed away on July 19th, 2019. She passed away in her sleep. I think as shocking as it was, I was also mentally prepared, as Hospice made me aware of her deteriorating health.
It has now been almost 3 months, and I still look up and expect her to be coming out her bedroom door. I have spent the last three months, taking care of all the admin paperwork, and going through the things my mom collected and moved with her from Florida in her 97 years. Making sure, that my brother and sister, who live in different states will have things that especially reminded them of either my mom or dad.
My mom had 97 years of life, which I choose to celebrate, and not bury myself in grief. She was the oldest of 7 children, and outlived almost all of her other siblings. I liked to think of my mom entering the gates of heaven, and her parents, my father, many of my aunts, and uncles are there to welcome her.
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