Mother passed away peacefully in her home on Friday, January 6, as she would have had it. Now, her family is in the beginning stages of a Life Without Mother. How much we appreciate the fact that we had her in our lives for so long. Many aren’t nearly as fortunate. But because we had her so long, is the Void left by her passing that much larger? I think so . . .
But she’s equipped us with some tools to help us cope. We’ve already enjoyed some laughing moments over her weird food cravings during the brief time of her illness. Hot food had to be HOT. Cold food had to be ICE COLD, and if ice was part of it … the pieces had better be small. She had an insatiable thirst for Cran-Raspberry juice, Decaffeinated diet coke (sometimes 4-6 cans a day that she swore took care of her heartburn … what??) … ice water (continually refreshed … and it HAD to be TAP water, go figure) … and (ONLY) … Bigelow Decaffeinated green tea with Lemon (1 bag must make 2 cups). Her hot cereal had to be prepared in a measuring cup and cooked in the microwave just right … if you tried to make it in a saucepan, she would hear you, and immediately ask why. Food choices included canned spaghetti, Cream of Mushroom soup, Susan’s homemade tapioca pudding, mashed potatoes with LOTS of butter, watermelon (she’d eat a whole one in 2 days, this had Susan continually scrambling around shopping for them), boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese, smoothies from McDonald’s, and her special treat, milkshakes. The milkshakes had to be available every evening by 7, and she preferred Baskin Robbins and Foster’s Freeze. At one point we arranged to make them ourselves, thinking they would be better, and cost less. She would have none of it (too much trouble, she said). Occasionally she did eat other food items … she asked for homemade stew and homemade spaghetti and marinara sauce, and a homemade beerock.
We found humor in her food choices. One day Susan left some gravy, cooked peas, and mashed potatoes in the fridge for her dinner later that day … my youngest brother pulled out the tapioca instead of the potatoes … putting gravy and peas on same … Mother mentioned to him that the potatoes tasted sweet! We all laughed about that one (including Mother) … strangely enough, she ate it!
So as we heal, we laugh over things she said that made us say WHAT? She’s provided us with a way to cope through our laughter. The funny moments we recall extend beyond her last weeks, and into the many years she was with us. She’s everywhere. She’s part of everything. And yes, there are moments of sadness. But we laugh, too. Thanks, Mother! Was that also part of your Plan?
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