Epilogue
December 10th, 2008
Next Monday will be the seven-month anniversary of my mother’s death. Strangely enough, it seems to me that even more time has passed since that day, and I have no idea why. I remember a dear older friend telling me many years ago about her own mother’s recent death–”It doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said, “when your mother dies, you feel like an orphan.” I was in my late twenties at the time but her words had a lasting effect on me. The prospect of either of my parents dying was safely in the future, but hearing this from someone considerably older than I was unsettling. I had expected that I would somehow be armed and ready to face my parents’ deaths by the time I’d reached my friend’s age.
My father died nine years ago, very suddenly but not entirely unexpectedly. He had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure the year before, and one morning in November, a week after his eightieth birthday, he collapsed at home. He was doing what he loved to do, puttering around the house with my mother nearby. He did not have an advance directive–the EMT’s were called and he was rushed to the hospital but I think he had died before they put him on the stretcher. Thank God. As incredible as his death was to me, I was deeply grateful that it had been sudden, that all the decisions had been taken out of our hands. My grief was low-keyed. Once the shock wore off I was left with the phantoms, some of them pleasant and some of them hollow.
And I still had my mother, so–at 46–I wasn’t an orphan yet.
Now I am, and I think I understand my friend’s long-ago words. I’ve lost the first love of my life. This is still way beyond my comprehension, and my grief is like curtains that blow open and then close with the draft, letting in just a little bit here and there. I’m not much of a crier, but every so often I startle myself with the reminder that my mother is no longer here and I feel very close to tears. That’s all I can say right now.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I know. My Mom died 2 years ago Christmas Day. As time goes by,in some ways grief lifts and in some ways it intensifies. A sudden unexpected memory can bring on a wave of grief washing over every cell of my body. If a good memory,grief is mixed with sadness.If a not so good memory,grief is often mixed with regret.I know you and I can both say we did the best we could do caring for our Moms.I think our Moms know that too. We can rest in the peace that brings. Motherless children of every age are always in my prayers.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I haven’t yet felt orphaned but my heart lurched when I read, “I’ve lost the first love of my life.” On the last day the members of my family who visited last week and I were together we decided to begin compiling a memory book in which we could write thoughts, paste pictures, etc. As the sister who suggested this and I were selecting an appropriate album in Barnes & Noble, I was moved to turn to her and say, “I know what I’m going to write, ‘You were the first and most recent love of my life…’” the rest dissolved in tears.
It’s very hard, losing a love of one’s life, but, I think, in the final tally, it’s brave to love so deeply, in defiance of the risk.
I am thinking often and deeply of you, too, Deb; I will write you, personally, soon.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Hi…………..thought you might be interested in this.
I just published a post to join the Dementia Webring so you can share similar interests and concerns with others! A ring will help more visitors find you quickly and easily by using the RingSurf Viewer which lets you navigate easily between sites in your ring
There is also a link on the top left of my blog if you decide to join or browse at a later date.
David Thomas MD
http://knittingdoc.wordpress.com
January 30th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Dear Deb
My heart goes out to you because I know what you mean about feeling orphaned. As long as our parents are in our lives, we have someone to share things with and to achieve for. This is so even if we don’t live near them - and I was some distance from my folks during my working life, but they were always the anchor and the point of reference. It may be different for people who have married and have hir own families - I don’t know.
One thing I DO know is that family closeness and continuity is one of THE most important things in this world and it’s such a heavy thing to see families splitting - and to see the way governments are encouraging the breakdown of family continuity via welfare and education policies. Parents are no longer apparently supposed to guide and influence their children - the state now thinks that’s its job.
Rejoice that your family ties are still intact - and know that death has not broken them: it has only stretched the elastic a bit!
Patricia