Mom - Her Death

Today marks the anniversary of my mom's death. August 21, 1978.

It was on a Monday morning when I got the call from my youngest sister, Tiger (Beverly) saying she couldn't wake mom up. I was washing breakfast dishes, had a load of laundry in the washer and had just hung a load on the line. I remember what was on the line that morning. Well, two items in particular. A green pair of shorts and a green and white striped top that I wore with the shorts. I remember these items simply because they were sun faded by the time I got them off the line a couple days later. Disaster has a way of doing that - putting things on hold, fading, displacing. . . . .

I told her to call dad - which she already had - and I would be right there. I gathered up the girls and left everything as it was. I remember thinking that mom was probably hung over from the weekend and Tiger just couldn't rouse her. By the time I got there dad was there and so was the ambulance. Tiger was standing outside. I left the girls in the car and sent Tiger to sit with them.

When I walked in, there she lay on the sofa. The attendants had tried to revive her, but to no avail. Dad was just standing there. It was all so surreal. I remember seeing her cigarette in the ash tray. Or should I say the long line of ashes, since the cig had already burned down to the filter and had gone out. What a thing to remember. I know the paramedics said something to me, but for the life of me, I can't recall the conversation. I called Donna, told her to come home right away - trying not to let the panic in my voice show - but I am supposing it did.

By the time I walked outside to be with the girls, one of Donna's co-workers was just dropping her off. She was already in hysterics, not even knowing the situation. So much so she couldn't even drive her own car home.

It was then they brought mom out to the ambulance and all we could do was watch. Dad was trying to rush about and I remember hearing the paramedic saying not to hurry, there was no need, he had time, just meet them at the hospital. My poor dad.

Thankfully, Tiger's little friend's brothers that lived next door to mom called their mom to come home - something was wrong. God bless Tressa. I don't know what those next few hours would have been like without her.

Apparently mom had gotten up before dad went to work. All seemed well then. When Tiger got up, around 10:00ish, I think, she noticed mom was asleep - or so she thought, at the sofa. She was sitting on a "dunce stool", smoking a cigarette, and doing a crossword. Not one hundred percent sure about the crossword, but it makes sense, knowing her. Tiger got her cereal and sat down beside her and ate her breakfast. She noticed a fly buzzing around mom. (I'm not insinuating that there had been hours of time lapse here - just that a fly in the summer is not that uncommon) She shooed it away several times and that's when she tried to wake mom up. But, she couldn't. She called dad, and then she called me. Tiger was just thirteen years old.

We wouldn't know for a few weeks the cause of death. I prayed that it wasn't what I thought it might be. I prayed very hard. I wanted to withdraw, but there was much that needed to be done. . . . .