Can I Go to Sleep Now?
My mother died January 20, 2014, after barely a week in hospice. This is how I remember it.
Friday
My father texted me.
Jan 10, 2014
Dad — 2:34:44 PM
— Going into hospice tonight.
I called back and it was true. No time for details, nor were there any to give. We had been matter-of-fact with each other when it came to my mother’s cancer. With it came the foregone conclusion of a 6-month battle, Stage 4, lung and kidney.
Over the next 12 days, these are the people who helped keep vigil:
— My wife, Stephanie, and me
— My brother, Noel
— My mother’s sister, Nancy
—My father’s brother, Mark
— My mother’s half-sister, Siri, and her husband, Roger, and their daughter, Cassie.
— Numerous Dear friends from Cleveland, Columbus and New Mexico
— And, of course, my father
The text didn’t catch me off guard. Mom’s death was imminent. All of us had been able to prepare for this. We…
