Today
December 14, 2009 at 7:55 am , by Percola
Seven years ago today I said good-bye to Mom. She was 53.
She had smoked for 35 years. Cancer spread from her lungs to her breast to her brain. Chemotherapy almost killed her. She fought back from ICU, left the hospital and went to a nursing home with a tube down her throat. She fought there, too. Doctors ordered the tube removed and she breathed on her own.
I watched these scenes from her bedside and from thousands of miles away. I fought to keep her alive and comfortable. I became her advocate, massaging her legs and feet, bringing care packages, working through the week and flying up on weekends. I called and met with her doctors, arranged for Hospice, planned her funeral. I punctuated the end of our conversations with the same three words: I love you. Any one of those conversations could be our last and I wanted there to be no doubt where she stood in my life.
She knew. I know she knew. Still, I failed her. I did not call the night before she died. I was not at her tiny apartment when she fell ill. I did not call 911 or follow the ambulance to the hospital. I was not there.
What is worse, I did not fulfill a dream she had. Mom lived life hard, did more in 53 years than many people do in a lifetime. Only one thing was left on her list of things to do: Be a grandmother.
She did not meet Simone and Nadia. She did not hold them, sing to them, rock them to sleep. I missed her the most in the early months of their lives. I needed to hear the stories of my eating habits, my silly mannerisms, how she coped in the early days. All of those memories and history were buried with her the day I sprinkled her grave with my tears. I wish it were not so. I wish I could pick up the phone, tell her about Simone and Nadia and hear her crack up as I tell her about my parenting missteps. I can only wish.
Category Biracial / Tags: Tags: death, lung cancer, mother, /
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by Blanc2
On December 14, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Very moving and touching piece. We went through a similar process with my wife’s mother. This post brought a tear to my eye as I was reminded of that painful time.
by Joyful Mom
On December 14, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I’m deeply sorry for your loss. Not be able to share our children with our parents is an ache that does not fade.
by Nikki
On December 14, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I am so sorry for your loss Monique. I am sitting over here in tears because I cannot imagine my grandmother or mother not meeting my children. I know she is looking down on all of you.
by Ernessa, author of 32 Candles
On December 19, 2009 at 12:36 pm
My mother died when I was 19 and it continues to make every happy moment a little more bittersweet. I missed her at graduation and especially at my wedding. But the thing I regret most about her untimely death is that she didn’t get to meet her granddaughter. She would have made a fantastic grandmother. But on the good side, when I try to skip my yearly physical due to lack of time or when I don’t want to get on that treadmill or get something checked out sooner than later, I think of my mom and I make my health a priority, b/c I do want so very much to meet my grandchildren.