Rest in Peace, Mom!

It has been a little over two weeks, since my mom was “born to eternal life.”  Tomorrow, it will be two weeks since we buried her.

I was so grateful to my sister for insisting that a priest come and give her annointing, absolution, and Viaticum.  He was there on a Friday; she went to sleep and passed away on Monday.

I had a very challenging relationship with my mom.   Part of that was being 495 miles away.  I don’t think she ever forgave me for moving away; although I didn’t do it to get away from her.  Part of it was that she had a sarcastic way about her that could be very hurtful.  Many times I was on the receiving end of her sarcasm.

Nine years ago, I began to call her every night.  Sometimes we would chat for 45 minutes to an hour.  Sometimes it was for only 5 minutes.  Sometimes, we were serious–sometimes we just joked and laughed.  I called her on Monday before going to Eucharistic Adoration and she would always ask me to pray for her before we hung up.  I assured her that I prayed for her every evening.  And, I did.

When she got sick, she asked that no one call her.  Evidently, the pain from the shingles in her face affected her hearing and it was painful for her to hold a phone to her ear.  We tried using the speaker phone, but that wasn’t working.  I admit that I was upset that I couldn’t talk to her every night.  However, now I realize what a blessing it was to wean myself away from the nightly calls instead of them stopping so suddenly when she died.

Another way that God has protected me from too much grief is that I didn’t get an opportunity to see her in her final sickness.  All I remember is how much fun we had on my last visit in October.

Yes, there is sadness and I’m looking forward to the day when I can get through a whole day without the sadness even though I’m sure that I will think about her often for a long, long time.

Mom, I love you and I hope you had time to forgive me for anything that I might have done to disappoint you.  I know that I have forgiven you, many times–each time I picked up the phone to call you!