Goodbye Grammy

Cancer is an evil thing.  I haven't posted regularly about it, but we've been driving to CT almost weekly to visit my mom.  She seemed to be holding her own.  And then a quick phone call the day before we were planning on driving down... 'can you come now, we don't think she is going to make it through the night'.

In under 30 minutes we're all in the van headed south. Plans for the afternoon and evening forgotten. I don't think any of us realized what we were going to see when we got there.  She did so well to hide the pain and discomfort on our last visits. It was upsetting for the kids as this was not the way they remembered her.  This was the beginning of the end.  She was asleep due to the pain medications, but not completely pain-free.  She seemed so close to passing and leaving the pain behind. But then she lingered, and didn't seem to get better, but did not get worse.  So we drove home late that night.

The next morning John and I went down alone.  We stopped in Boston on the way to let Becca know what was happening.  I did not want her to hear via text, phone or Facebook.  We brought her the quilt Grammy had been working on and that members of my mom's quilt guild had finished for her.  It was an even longer drive going to Boston first, but we eventually arrived.  And sat, and waited.  I held her hand and we all talked.  And she continued to linger.  So we headed home, thinking of what we could re-arrange to come down again soon.  But before we got home we received a text from my dad.  She had passed away a few minutes ago.

It's sad, but it was expected.  It's awkward to say we welcomed her death.  But to be in so much pain is not something you wish for anyone.  We are all very sad, but thankful that she is no longer in pain.

Goodbye Mom.