Time to Sigh

There have been a lot of celebrity deaths lately:  Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Karl Mauldin – I’ll even include Billy May.  Many accolades are being written and spoken for them.  The fact that we know who they are means they impacted our lives – at least a little.  I do not begrudge them either their fame or the attention given to their passing.

Then I look at my mother.  She will be 93 next week.

Think of that – ninety three.

Just as celebrities die, so too will my mother die.  Like most people, she is not a celebrity.  Millions will not mourn her passing.  There will be a small story in the obituaries and a small gathering when she rejoins the earth. 

And that too is fine.

Mom made close friends in many places:  up-state New York, Massachusetts, Hialeah, and Port St. Lucie. She didn’t live here in Texas long enough to make friends – she only lived in her little house for six months before she fell, broke her hip, and was hospitalized.  Her dementia has prevented her from making any new relationships.

All those years – all those people Mom knew and worked with and cared for and prayed for and worried about and laughed with and shared meals with.  All those people she loved and loved her.  All those people she shared life with.

Unlike the celebrities, she will die alone.

Comments

[James TREE Machin]

John,
I know for a fact that your mother will not die alone. Many of us will be with her in when that time comes. WE will not be with her in some of the older traditional ways, but in a new way though your blog.
My mother died just recently at the age of 96 and I know for certain that she is waiting for your mother as they shared something. They both had boys in harms way a long time ago. They both had boys that loved them very much.
TREE

[MGB]

Tree, I am so sorry to hear about the recent death of your mother. By evidence of her son, I am sure I would have enjoyed meeting her. xoxo

[ellen neumann]

Your mother will never be alone Doug, my goodness, she has YOU !! Such a son, one to carry with her to eternity. I once wrote a song for my eldest grand child and there is a line in it that says " I was with you long before you were born, I will be with you long after I am gone..........".

This helped them when we lost Eric, I believe this with all my heart,

Love,
Ellen

[Sam]

Hi Mr. Pony Tail,

Like Michael Jackson, celebrity or not, we all will die alone some day. It will be between us and our Maker when it's time. Those who gone before us are now happy ever after and with eternity peace. It's us, who still hanging around for a purpose that we'll know later after this life. Nothing against or trying to pass my judgment, but if I died and million people mourning for me while God rejected everything that I did, then I rather die alone with God happily waiting for me into His arms.
I know there is a reason for you mom to hang tough at 93 and I can't explain, but somehow I have a feeling that she's now communicate with other spirits, higher being - whom might tell her it's not her time yet. Otherwise, I've seen people struggle for months or years before they were finally rest in peace.

Hanging in there buddy and let your pony tail grow like I once was in the 70s :)

[Brian]

We all die alone, I imagine. But your Mum will never die lonely. Courage to you both. [And, man, that pony-tail is WICKED!]