Happy Birthday, Mom!

Since my mom's birthday is so close to Mother's Day I end up missing her something fierce this time of year!

Here's some photos of her. This first one was taken on New Year's Day 1966 and is my favorite photo of her and I.

This next one is the only one I have of her as a baby. I think the expression on her face is saying, "What am I supposed to do with this ball?"

The last one is from her high school graduation. She looks so happy there.

Rest in peace, Momma.

Remembering Mom

Eight years ago today my mom lost her very short battle with cancer. She died of lung cancer. It's kind of ironic to me that November is the Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

As a child, my younger brother and I would take anti-smoking pamphlets from the school nurse and stuff them under our parents' pillows. He and I were the only ones in our family who didn't develop the habit of smoking.

We went to her grave today, as we always do, and placed some red, white and blue flowers there. It was strange to see my father's date of death on the headstone now. Besides the flowers we left some personal items, as we always do. Just little things that remind us of them.

I miss her smile, her laughter, her sense of humor, her love of Snoppy, the way she played "Onward Christian Soldiers" on the piano (the way that got her booted from playing in the Salvation Army church for a month). I miss being able to just talk with her.

It is amazing to me how much I still miss them both...

THE Election

I've been doing some reminiscing lately.

During the election of 2000 my family was going through a difficult time. My mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer on October 25th. Her diagnosis was end stage lung cancer with metastases to the spine and brain. That meant no opportunity to treat it in hopes of living longer. That meant that we were looking at pain relieving measures only.

My mother wanted to die at home. And so for the first 15 days, we tried to take care of her at home. Pain relief was our first concern. After that it was keeping up with her extremely weakened state and not letting her get bed sores or get hurt by falling down or falling over.

It really was a team effort and I am grateful that my sometimes uncohesive family came together and served her needs.

But it quickly became too much as her needs were so great and it didn't allow us to enjoy her for the remaining days she had left. (Enjoy is a rather odd verb here, for it is so hard to enjoy a loved one who is suffering so much. Still, every moment with her was treasured and in that sense I use the word enjoy.) So, against her will, we brought her to a hospice. This was a very difficult decision we made together as a family because we knew that we needed to be united in this. It is so hard to go against someone's wishes in this regard, and yet, it was the best thing for my mom and our family. What I learned from this is to express my wishes to my family as clearly as my mother did, but to allow room for change as needed.

Anyway... my Mom had always been interested in politics. Even as she was dying, she was so curious about the election. Remember the hanging chads? Remember how for weeks we didn't even know who the next president was going to be? She desperately wanted George W. Bush to win. Every time she awoke from her frequent naps,while she still could talk, she asked who won the election. Every time I was there, I answered, "George W. Bush." Of course, we wouldn't know that for sure until after my mom died for her stay in hospice was just ten days.

With the things we're discovering now about Obama and his affiliations with terrorists and his membership in a communist group and his many associations with them, and the question of whether or not he's actually eligible to be our President based the legitimacy of his birth on American soil and/or to American parents, I can't help but think of what her reaction to all this would have been.

She would be disappointed and upset. And, being her daughter, I am feeling that same way about this election.

Why isn't the average American upset about all this? Why doesn't the average American know about it!?

Prayers ascending daily, sometimes more often, for this upcoming election.