Just Another Day...

Well I made it through another mother's day... the sixth since my mom died. And of course it's closing in on the 6th anniversary of her death, as well. So, yeah... I spent the day listening to my 'Tribute to Mom' mood on my launchcast station... and remembering my last mother's day spent with mom. Mom's last mother's day was difficult... it was just 2 weeks or so before she died, and we knew the end was near. She was bedridden and so doped up on morphine she didn't know what day it was. When I came to wish her a happy mother's day,

all she could say was 'it's not mother's day is it? no... no... it can't be'. I bought her a card, which I had to read to her. (Did you know they make mother's day cards for dying mother's? Yes... it's true!) I also bought her one of those metallic helium-filled balloons that said 'Happy Mother's Day!' and tied it to the frame of her 'hospital' bed, which we had set-up in her living room. My grandma came and made her famous meatloaf for dinner. My mother was unable to eat, but she managed to nibble on a few green grapes. I noticed her toenails had been painted, but not recently. The nail-polish was growing out and only covering half of her toenails. So I found her nailpolish remover and got her toenails all cleaned up... then I located some more polish and re-did them for her. Later in the day my uncle showed up, bearing carnations... both red and white. It's tradition in my family to wear carnations in honor of our mothers. The red are worn by those whose mother's are still living, and the white by those whose mother's have died. I managed a joke that he should have brought pink carnations for myself and my siblings, given our mother's state at the time. But I took a red carnation and pinned it to my shirt, knowing it would be the last red carnation I would wear on mother's day.