Today is the five year anniversary of losing my Mama.
My Mother died Tuesday September 4, 2001…..the following Tuesday was the infamous 9-11. Our minister said her children and grandchildren have never fully grieved the loss of their Mother. I believe it to be true.
She was a wonderful woman. A woman who was always looking after someone elses child. She adored children.
She and my Father married at age 22 and tried and tried to have a child. Test after test proved nothing wrong with either of them.
When my Mom was 33…she got very sick with the flu. Turns out the flu bug was "ME"……
Three years later she had Becky….two years later she had Barbie and five years later…..at age 43, she had my baby brother John.
My sister, Barbie, gave my parents EVERY SINGLE Thursday ( her only day off ) to go into their town when they lived in East Liverpool and just "help them"…..by dong whatever. She is a true SAINT……I swear.
My brother, John, never missed work and was still a SUPER caregiver for Mom. She wanted John more than anyone in the end……he was strong and could maneuver her easier than anyone else. He brought her so much comfort. He was her baby…..
My sister, Becky, lived three hours away, had two younger children and could not leave work. Becky, her husband and kids would come to see her when they could.
My Mother was the absolute best grandmother a child could ever want…..getting down on the floor and playing with them. She played ball, dolls, made the trip from Ohio never to miss their school events and the list goes on.
No one watched our kids but my Mom….we would drive two hours to Ohio to bring her back to stay….so I would leave my kids and go out. I trusted her.
When my Mother started showing signs she should not be in Ohio anymore alone, we brought her here. That was in 1998. She did NOT want to leave her home but she was going downhill fast after my Father died.
She developed anemia and needed constant supervision. Her two grandchildren (my kids) whom she adored decided to take it upon themselves to be her caregivers. My brother and I (along with a couple hired ladies) did the bulk of the caregiving. The minute my son and daughter would get home from school…..right next door they would go to my brother’s house…..to be with Memaw. She couldn’t wait till they got there.
They did ALL of the duties an adult would do……willingly. No one asked them to do so. They did their homework there….watched "her" TV shows (Golden Girls was her favorite) and they each let her talk on the phone to their friends, made her milkshakes at night, cooked when she wanted whatever, sharing stories with each other….Mom with my kids…my kids with my Mom. My kid’s friends thought their Grandmother was simply the "coolest"…..she loved those kids too.
My daughter was the "make Memaw feel good person"…..always painting my Mother’s nails, giving her a facial, washing her hair and rolling it, giving her massages………..TILL January of 2001 when Mom had her first seizure in my daughter’s arms……my daughter (at age 17) thought she killed her Grandmother. We were the only two in the house with my Mom and my daughter screamed for me to come help NOW……I held my Mother up in the kitchen chair and told my daughter to QUICKLY call 911…..she did and while greatly crying told the emergency worker to "HURRY COME TO HELP MY GRANDMA IN THE BLUE HOUSE"…….no city name…no Street name….no number…..I think my daughter was in a state of shock. The EMT calmed my daughter and before long the ambulance and workers were at the door……Mom had awakened and did NOT want to go to the hospital….we insisted….JUST to get checked.
That was the "first" of MANY ambulance trips to the hospital…..she only lasted till September of that year. We still have no idea why the seizures began….but it was the beginning of the end for Mom. My daughter still would go over with my Mom….but I think was scared to death to be with her or do "anything" where she thought she would have a seizure again.
Mom was taken away from us September 4, 2001 at the age of 79…….you have no idea how much I miss her.
Posted by lat454205 / Lisa on 2006-09-05 03:59:23
Tagged: , My Mama , My mom is beautiful , ABigFave
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