Mother's Collage

I have spent my morning looking through pictures to try to organize a collage for my mother's graveside service next month. I have requested input from my daughter and my niece and my brother since you can have a maximum of 30 photos, but if I don't hear anything back, this will be it. It will be 20 x 30, and I am going to look for a poster frame for it. I thought this would be better than a poster with individual pictures, as I don't know what the weather will be.
It seems odd to say you are looking forward to a memorial service, but I am.


It will be nice to be with everyone, and it will be nice to honor my mother's memory. Also, I haven't been more than about 50 miles from home for almost two years. My Mother was pretty, wasn't she.

Mother's Day

This is my mother Norma Cole Howland, who passed away April 10, 2008. She is already missed. This picture was taken when I was a small child.

She was gallant until the end.

Happy Mother's Day. I have lots of good memories.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow.

Family Gathering

Sunday we had our family gathering, all 34 of my mother's kids, grandkids and great-grandkids except for 1 great-granddaughter who is in New Mexico. All the cousins had a really good time together, there was a group for each age group. We had people here from Clermont, Starke, Minneola, Lawtey, Mulberry, Palm Bay, and Jacksonville, Fl., Brunswick, Ga. and Diagonal, Iowa.

My DH and I had to leave early, as my husband was feeling ill, we still don't know what the problem was, but he was dizzy and his equilibrium was off, and he was a little disoriented. I think that it could have had something to do with the heat, as he is not in real good shape.

My daughter said that we should do it at least once a year, and my niece who is the one from Iowa said that she would make it at least once a year. It is really heartwarming to me to know that they all get along, and all enjoy being together. It is interesting to see the younger ones looking up to the older ones, and being included by them. My niece commented to my daughter that the kids didn't once come to tell on anyone, or complain about anyone, they were having too good of a time. Evidently, after we left, there was a really good basketball game, and a few wrestling matches. We can go on with the cycle for awhile, as we have some early twenties, but a few babies, too.

Part of me was feeling like, oh no, I have so much to do, but then I reminded myself that I am retired and there is no time limit to getting things back together, or even working on things I want to work on, like my CC and my OC.

Nothing is more important than family, and in all 3 branches, mine and my 2 brothers, there have been divorces, some pretty messy and more than heartbreaking, and it is so good to see the children together, and I'm hoping that they will realize that even though bad things happen, that family is still important, and extended family still loves them and is there for them.

Off my soapbox now, I really hadn't intended to climb onto it.

Flowers

We got some beautiful flowers this week in sympathy for my mother's passing away. The orchid is from my mother's main nurse, and the flower arrangement is from my DH's sister and her husband. It was very thoughtful of them, and a cheerer upper. The orchid is alive, and I do not have a green thumb, so I hope that I can keep it that way.

Getting Back to "Normal"

It has only been 2 days since my mother passed away. My brothers both left this morning, one had been here since Easter and the other just got here yesterday. No more nurses round the clock. My mother was with us for about twenty months. It is now back to just my husband and I, and it will be an adjustment. There is more to do than I had realized. Hospice has to pick up medical equipment, and another company will be coming Monday to pick up a CoughAssist machine and my mother's hospital bed. My niece in Iowa is planning to leave this week to drive down here, and next week-end everyone will be back (including nieces, nephews, grandchildren etc.) here to just get together at the park or somewhere not determined yet. I ordered a bed for my mother's room, which will now be a combination sewing and guest room, and it will be a few weeks before it gets here. Meanwhile, I have sorting and organizing of my mother's things, and the same for mine to go back into the room. It is hard to go through my mother's things as it feels like an invasion of privacy. I am starting to feel like my blog is a real downer, I feel like it is me, me, me, and I'm getting tired of myself. Hopefully, it will be better when I get back to working on things, meanwhile my apologies to anyone who had the patience to wade though this.

My Mother Passed

My mother was under hospice care at home 24 hours a day from Sunday until last evening at 6:55 PM, and then she passed peacefully away. It is a sad time, but we all know that it is a release for her, and at least she is not suffering anymore. Her disease was a cruel one where had she lived she would have just continued to get weaker, until she wouldn't have been able to move any parts of her body, and with her age, she was ready to go. Until the last week or so, she was still able to get back and forth to the bathroom with help, and able to read and do her puzzles, so at least she was spared the worst of it.
Now, there is just some sorting and such to do, and getting back organized, and then hopefully, I will get back to my CC and OC. Right now, I don't feel much like it, but it will come.
In June, we will take her ashes back to Iowa, which she loved, and have a graveside service and then she will be settled and hopefully completely at peace, and we will feel we did our best for her.

Hospice

I am the caretaker for my mother, who has lived with me for about 20 months, and been diagnosed with ALS for about 3 years. Since January she has been on hospice, and as of this past week-end she has been on critical care, and we have had a nurse in our home for the past 24 hours. They feel the end is near, and so I won't be working on anything for awhile, but hope to catch up sometime.
Hospice has been wonderful, and they make a hard time much easier for all concerned. They are keeping her sedated and as comfortable as possible.