Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Life: Aging and Death

I know my post title is very somber today. Well, sometimes life is difficult and one must sit back and ponder. Last week my mom went back into the hospital. She was in awful shape. She has congestive heart failure and was experiencing a bad bout - lots of fluid build-up and extreme weakness/fatigue along with shortness of breath. In the hospital they were able to help her get back to pretty good condition. She was pink-cheeked and spunky again by the time she was released. Now her challenge is to maintain this level of health so that she doesn't have another scary time like that one.

This little scare reminded me that she is mortal. Sounds crazy, but it was a jolt to be reminded that she won't be with us forever. At one point I looked at her in her hospital bed, and she looked so vulnerable. My mom is tough and strong. I have never thought of her as vulnerable. That was a bit of a shock.

The hospital and my sister were going to communicate with Mom's assisted living facility and ask for a few more services, to help keep my mom on a more even keel. We have our fingers crossed.

My mom is 93. Love!

Oh.. amidst the scariness, I was in town just in time to attend a concert. The town has an annual music festival which brings in professional musicians from various symphonies and orchestras around the country and world. Fabulous concert... and there was a lovely, cool evening with a pretty sunset.


In more bad news, last week there was a horrible event in my town. A police officer was shot to death during a routine traffic stop. He didn't even get as far as up to the car to chat with the driver. The driver just pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. The officer was 47 years old and leaves behind a wife and two teen-age kids. Our town is heart-broken. It's a small, quiet suburb with a small police force. The town has shown wonderful support to the family. Today was the funeral. The procession from the church to the cemetery went right through my neighborhood, so I joined the vigil. It was very emotional. Police from everywhere came to join the procession. I saw cars from all over Minnesota, of course, and from North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and even Canada. Very moving. The hearse went by, followed by the family. The two teenagers were waving out the window, signing "I love you" which I signed back.


My childhood friend was with me during the procession. Her father died when she was 12. She felt a kinship with these teens who are now without a father. May his children heal and grow with love despite their trauma and loss.

Before the event started, some on-duty police handed out stickers to kids in our group:


quiet. respectful. emotional.

Peace and Love to all.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

C: Such a tragedy! The poor guy thought he was making a routine traffic stop and now he's gone. I'm so glad you were able to see the motorcade. Thanks for sharing your post and your photos.

Anonymous said...

Oops. I wanted to add a note about your mother. I guess I thought it was a separate post. Your mother is in my thoughts and prayers.

Jan said...

I glad to hear your Mom is doing well. We have congestive heart failure in our family, it's usually the men, so far.

My husband is retired LAPD, and we were aware of your local police tragedy. My heart is broken, too.

BarbCarol said...

I surely understand what you are going through with your mother. My mother is 84 and struggling with congestive heart failure. All we can do is try to keep them comfortable and give them all the room they want.

Geri said...

I am glad to hear your Mom is doing well enough to leave the hospital. I do understand the shock of realizing that Mom is mortal and will leave us.
I lost my Mom last Oct. She always said she would live to be 100, I believed her. She made it to 95 which was a pretty good run, and I was happy for her when she decided to leave us earlier. You and your Mom are in my prayers.