- I remember mom sleeping on a cot with me in the hospital when I was five. I had surgery to repair a bi-lateral hernia and she stayed with me. I woke up in pain, not knowing where I was, confused, having to pee. She calmed me and made sure I found my way to the bathroom and got back into bed.
- I remember mom hauling me to the drinking fountain under her arm at the school park. As a kid I liked the taste of sand, so I got a bit more sand in my mouth than I could handle and started choking. She got me to the fountain and washed the sand out of my mouth, wiping my tears away. Off I went looking for more trouble, or maybe just more sand.
- I remember mom calming me when I had to submit to a freakishly big scanning device at the orthodontist office. This machine scanned my jaws and teeth in preparation for braces. She convinced me everything would be OK, I just had to sit still. I felt like crying, but she told me everything would be over in a minute or two. She was right, as always.
- I remember mom chatting, laughing and listening to all the goofy things I had to ask her about. I remember her having a quick and ready answer for all my health questions. She was a nurse, she knew about this stuff and knew what to tell me.
- I remember mom so concerned that Deedra was in the hospital in Salem. I remember my mom so concerned that Deedra should not be there by herself.
- I remember mom playing with her grandchild Georgia, looking at her with so much love in her eyes. I could see in my mom's eyes that she knew these moments were fleeting.
- I remember my mom, Nina, giving of herself as best she knew how. I remember her lying in the hospital, sick with pancreatic cancer. Her kids were heading out to lunch. She tried to reach for her purse to make sure we had money, like she always did.
- I remember mom giving Monica a birthday card, signed in her weakened hand, wishing her a happy birthday, a little more than a week before she passed away. I can hardly look at this card, framed on the wall of Monica's studio. It makes me so sad.
- I remember mom never appearing scared throughout her time with pancreatic cancer. I asked her several times if she felt fear, and she would always look up at me and calmly smile and say no. I remember her dignity in life, and in death. I remember what she taught me about living. I remember what she taught me about dying.
3 comments:
Ash (and Chris!), Though I never met your mom, I couldn't help but shed some tears reading what your remember about her. She sounded like such a special, caring person who always put her family first. Surely she is smiling from the heavens as you continue on this journey. Perhaps Chris can share some thoughts about her mom in another entry at some point. In other news, I fully agree with your sis...please be safe. No reason to bust your tail just to stay on schedule. Take time between the storms to rest and reflect. I'll continue to keep you in my prayers.
Wow.
June always makes me remember her more too.
Three of my best memories.
Out of surgery with a tube still down her throat and she wrote jokes on a pad of paper for us.
Her friends having a girl come in and do her hair and nails so she would be pretty in her hospital bed.
The look on her face when I surpised her at work with you, home from the service.
She was SO proud of her son, called me almost every day to talk about how you were doing on your first ride across the country.
Yours was the last voice she was listening to, and I know she is watching over both of you right now.
Be safe little brother.
m
a beautiful tribute and also a reminder of the inspiration for your ride. i love this photo of mom, i never saw her as happy as she was that day.
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