Chapter 20

The next morning, I arrived early as instructed. I quickly learned that our favorite football team was finally going to get a new stadium. Fortunately for us, the men who make those decisions had chosen our company to supply the decorative paneling and wood trim. It would turn out to be a massive undertaking and would require putting in some very long days.

During lunch, I stopped in to check on my mom. She did not look good. I learned that her oxygen had been turned up quit high. It was at such high level that she would need to be near the life-giving tank at all times. It looked like any chance of getting her out to the gardens was quickly fading away.

Mom informed me that my sister had stopped in to see her. She said that she looked really good. She also told me that she had asked her to sign some documents. Mom had recalled my instructions and had informed her that she would need to talk with me first. At that point, she thought my sister had become a little agitated. My sister had dropped the subject for a while, but had brought it up once more before leaving. I had to give mom credit; she had stuck to her guns.

I recalled a story I had read about an elderly couple who had lived in their home for over sixty years. The dear couple had agreed to take in a nephew who had needed a place to stay. After he had moved in, he asked the couple to sign a document which he said he needed to get a school loan.

In reality, the document allowed him to take out credit using the house as collateral. He took out up to three hundred thousand dollars and then disappeared. When the bank came to collect their money, he was nowhere to be found.

The elderly couple tried to convince everyone that they had no idea of the scam and explained that they had been duped. It didn't matter. The bank needed its money and the house had been seized. The old couple had been evicted. It wasn't of any concern to the lenders that the couple had made a life in the home and had nowhere else to go.

The house where the couple had grown old together, the place where they had accumulated so many memories, was gone. They had been forced to move to a low income housing facility for the elderly. That story had broken my heart. The poor innocent couple hadn't even known what was happening to them.

I doubted that scenario would happen with my mother. Even if my sister did convince mom to sign everything over to her, the money was not that important to the rest of us. There were just a few items that we really treasured and would like keep. It was those items that would remind us of the love of a wonderful parent.

We would also need to protect mom's name to insure that my sister did not use it to take out any new credit cards or loans. We all knew that she would stoop to any level, in order to get what she wanted.

My stay with my mom was short, but I told her I would be back after work. I gave her a kiss and headed out the door. I don't know if mom saw the tear in my eye, but I did quickly wipe it away as I was walking down the hall.

The afternoon was filled with more meetings, scheduling, and creative thinking sessions. It was well into the evening before I was finally able to leave. I picked up some fast food and then headed up to see mom.

Fortunately for me, my sister had just left. I had a good talk with mom and thought she seemed to be in good spirits. I asked her where I could find some of the important papers that I would need. She seemed surprised that I would ask. She informed me that Christine had already told her that she needed them to check on some information for the medical bills.

"You really should talk with your sister about these things," she had said. "She seems to know what is going on."

After leaving mom, I went immediately to her house. I was able to find most of my mom's papers before my sister did. I also picked up a few items that were special to me that I did not want my sister to take.

The one thing that I was sure to pick up was a picture of my mom when she was about nineteen. It was taken just before she had begun dating my dad. Every time I would see that picture, I would get a little choked up. In the picture, I saw a young girl who expressed so much hope and excitement for the future.

The photo was of a beautiful young lady. If I had been around in that day, I know I would have been attracted to her. It was evident that the young lady had no idea of the challenges that she would face in the upcoming years. It was the face of teenage girl looking forward to life and all the dreams that she hoped would be hers.

I didn't get home until late that night. I talked to Anna for a short time and then went to bed. I would need to arrive early at work the next day and begin the whole process all over again.

Several days later, I found some time to pick up my mail and put a new box on my post. This time I placed a piece of angle iron inside the top of the box. The next person who hit it with a bat would discover an unpleasant shooting pain traveling up his arm.

Life became filled with work, visiting my mom, and checking on her house. Many of my own jobs at home were pushed to the back. I met with the doctors to discuss options for my mother. Some of the new drug treatments might allow her to be more mobile, but the side effects would also make her uncomfortable in other ways.

The side effects were what I was very concerned about. My mom did not tolerate pain or discomfort very well. She had already experienced hives, sleepiness, and agitation from some of the medications she had taken. I could only imagine what new irritations might result from the new drugs.

I was very fortunate in that I seemed to always just miss running into my sister. That was just fine with me. I was afraid of what I might say when I saw her. I knew a confrontation was imminent, but I really hoped it would be under the right circumstances.

The call came at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. It was the doctor at the hospital informing me that my mom had passed. He said she had gone quietly that morning without any pain. I was informed that there had been no extraordinary measures taken to resuscitate her, as that had been her desire.

I sat down in disbelief. Death is always a shock. I had been led to believe that we would have at least a few more months with her, maybe even a year. Now she was gone from my life forever. I called my brother and gave him the sad news. I also called one of my mom's dear friends. After those two calls, I walked to my backyard to mourn.

Many scrambled thoughts ran through my head. The birds were still chirping, but my mother could not hear them. The sky was still blue, but my mother could not see the fluffy clouds. I caught a whiff of mint as I walked by some herbs, but my mother could no longer smell. Every wonderful thing I came across reminded me of my mother's passing.

We set up a meeting with the funeral home for the next day. My brother and his wife would be there. My sister was not invited. I stopped over at my mom's and collected all the valuable jewelry and other precious items I could find. After that, I changed the locks on the house.

I went into work on Monday. There was just too much to be done and I would need the next few days off. I had some meetings rescheduled and squeezed some into the afternoon. My brother and I met with the pastor to make arrangements for the funeral, during my lunch break, and then I went back to work.

One thing kept running through my head. We work, strive, and plan for the future. Even my mom had been planning for the future. But for her, that future would never come. I could have been killed in the car accident down south. Fortunately for me, I wasn't. I had been allowed to live for another day.

I was once again reminded of just how important life is. If there was one thing I could do in memory of my mother, it was to live my life as fully as I possibly could. As I hurried to my next meeting, I passed one of the secretary's desks. On it was a picture of a happy family. I stopped and studied it carefully.

"Is this your family?" I asked the new lady at the desk.

"Why, yes it is," she replied with a smile.

"You are very lucky," I said, and then hurried down the hall.

A maintenance worker had dropped a tool he was using. I stopped and picked it up.

As I handed it to him, he seemed to be surprised.

"Thanks for keeping our building in tiptop shape," I said to the startled man.

I resolved, once more, to take the time to smell the roses and bring some light into the lives of those around me.

The evening review of my mom, several days later, was a farce. We had hired one of the more reputable funeral homes in town. When I arrived that evening, I was very disappointed with how they had prepared mom's body.

We had given the director a recent photo and had explained how important her hair was to her. The woman who lay before me looked nothing like my mother. Her head seemed to have just been plopped on the pillow. Her hands were actually floating an inch above her chest. And the lipstick looked like that of the elderly ladies, with shaky hands, that you see in the nursing homes.

I was furious. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for any big changes to be made. Family and friends would be arriving shortly and my mind was not in the proper state to think the situation through. I suppose I could have just had them close the casket, but that thought did not occur until later that night.

I asked the attendant to see what they could do with her hair. I then went on to meet with the visitors that had begun arriving. I learned later that there had been many comments made about how mother did not look like herself. Of course, no one said that directly to me. Somehow, I made it to the end of the night.

There was one bright spot in the whole evening. Placed around the casket were the normal bouquets of flowers from friends and family. However, one arrangement dwarfed them all. It was a beautiful display of a wide variety of flowers, some that I was unfamiliar with. It was one of the most beautiful that I could ever remember. It must have cost a small fortune.