The Anniversary

One year ago today my blessed Mom passed away. I called Mom from work that morning around 9:00am to say hello and ask how she felt.  She had been hospitalized a month before with bleeding ulcers and spent a week in the hospital, but had not been recovering like she should have. 

Danelle had been staying with Mom during the night for the last few weeks, and I was surprised when she answered the phone that morning. She informed me that Mom had not had an easy night, and had been moaning in pain but refused to let Danelle call me.

It didn't sound good so I agreed to leave work immediately. As soon as I took one look at Mom, lying in her bed, I picked up the phone and called an ambulance. If death had a look, I was staring it in the face.

My sister and brother would meet us at the hospital. The three of us together could weather the worst storm. Thank God for siblings!

Later that day Mom was moved from the ER to ICU. She was given something for pain and slipped into a drug-induced coma. The doctor called the family into a small room and explained that she was suffering from congestive heart failure and had suffered irreversible liver damage. She was going to die.

I remember looking around the room at the familiar faces of my family, and watched helplessly the gamut of emotions that each person was experiencing. I couldn't believe it at first but soon came to realize that through all the rehearsals we'd been through with Mom over the years, this was the final curtain call. She had cheated death for the last time. I realized suddenly at that moment that I was losing the first love of my life and the best friend I ever had or ever would have.

I went to my Mother's bedside and took her hand in mine. I bent down and kissed her soft, sweet face. I tried reasoning with her and whispered, "Mom you can't die on Stevie's birthday. You have to pull through this." Steve's birthday is October 16^th and what a horrible birthday it would be to have his dearly beloved grandmother die on his birthday. My Mother loved him so much. Many times she said that his birth is what kept her alive all those desperate years. She loved him like he was her own child. And even in death my Mother proved to be selfless and to love unconditionally.

Mom passed away on October 15^th, 2003 at 10:15pm. She missed Steve's birthday by less than 2 hours.