From the monthly archives:

June 2006

Finished

June 29, 2006

I think I will have to take my Dad’s approach and just say this simply: Mom passed away at 7pm last night. Ever the captain of her ship, I think she tried to time it (if such things are even possible) so that she wouldn’t go on my birthday on Tuesday, or my parents’ anniversary, which is today. That would be typically protective of her.

I’m not sure what to say about how I’m feeling at the moment; last night it was mostly a sense of relief after I got off the phone. She waited almost exactly three weeks from the day she decided to stop further treatments, and while we certainly had some great time together in that period, she was clearly ready to go, and truth be told, getting a bit impatient about it.

So today I’m alternately heartbroken, numb, full of memories, and gearing up for what is now my biggest task: becoming fully the person she’s always told me I can be. I’m now 39 (happy birthday to me), and it’s time to stop farting around with whatever artistic and social ambitions I may have. If this experience has taught me anything it’s that you can’t take time for granted.

R.I.F. (Rest in Fabulousness)
Linda Nuckols Gunby
December 19, 1940 – June 28, 2006

{ 8 comments }

Going Home

June 25, 2006

Well, it’s late Sunday night, and the news for today is that I’m going home. Mom is still here, though I think we really have reached the beginning of the end (or the beginning of a beginning, depending on how you look at it). She’s been very weak all day, is having more trouble scooting herself up on the bed, etc., and really is ready to go—you can see it in her eyes every morning: a look that says, “Why am I still here?”.

However, tomorrow will mark 6 weeks away from home for me, and with Deb’s Dad’s health failing as well, it seemed a good time to come home. There’s just not much more for me to do here, either physically or emotionally, and I have been so gifted with time that I no longer feel the need to be here for some theatrical last moment. Given how things are, there may not be one anyway—the nature of this disease seems to be a slow slipping away, and we may walk in tomorrow morning to find her gone. So home I go, and safe journeys to us both.

{ 2 comments }

Reason #2 I’ll Miss Her

June 24, 2006

She had a way, like most Moms do, of making everything better. Even her own death has been made more bearable for us by her attitude, her acceptance of this circumstance. But she is leaving us little by little, and soon, and with another looming family health crisis on the horizon, I desperately want someone [...]

Read the full article →

Passing the Baton

June 23, 2006

Lots of time to reflect lately, unsurprisingly. Mom continues to slowly decline, though with surprising bursts of energy the last few days. She sent me downstairs in search of an elusive box with her mother’s initials on the top, and in the course of looking for it, I found an amazing treasure: 6 boxes of [...]

Read the full article →

Things I Used to Know

June 18, 2006

Well, as all 3 of you may have noticed, we’re in a time of redesign and cleanup at WanderingMind. With friends getting spiffy new weblogs of their own, I decided it was finally time to start paying some attention to housekeeping around here. With that in mind, I’ve been going back through my old entries [...]

Read the full article →

Another Version of Myself

June 17, 2006

As previously noted, I’m a sucker for online avatar creators, and after doing South Park, I took the opportunity this morning to recreate myself as a Simpsons character. As with all of these little toys, the results are slightly off (my hair’s not that short anymore), but otherwise it’s a fairly accurate likeness, right down [...]

Read the full article →

Four Things

June 15, 2006

Boy, do these things take a long time. I started answering this back in January, but here it is, finally done. Sheesh.
Four jobs I’ve had

Short order cook at Montgomery Wards
Maker of fine customized t-shirts at Shirtique (twice!)
Cataloger of a stuffed hunting trophy collection for an estate sale
Guardian of the dressing room in the lingerie department [...]

Read the full article →

Looking for the Switch

June 14, 2006

How it is today: pretty much more of the same. Mom seems a bit weaker every day physically, but still lucid and very much herself, which is to say loving, funny, and very sassy. She’s stopped taking visitors now except for family, but is still enjoying occasional phone calls and laughing with friends. And I’m [...]

Read the full article →

Reason #1 I’ll Miss Her

June 8, 2006

Mom Mojo. We’ll still be talking, but it’ll sure be a lot different. Hopefully the mojo still works from wherever she’s going.

Read the full article →

Winding Down

June 8, 2006

It’s a weird time. I mentioned limbo a few entries back, I think, and that’s still where we are, although the pace of limbo continues to slow. Mom made the decision earlier this week not to have any further treatment, so there will be no more blood transfusions, and she’s on only minimal medication. This [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries