Phone Call

I called Monday morning, but Mom asleep. Late in the afternoon (around quarter to 5, my time), Heather (a.k.a. Super Sister!) called me and said that Mom had just woken up, so I could call back in about ten minutes to talk to her after they had given Mom her meds.

Mom is not talking much anymore. In fact, on Sunday Heather said that she had completely stopped talking. So I didn't really expect to have a conversation; I assumed it would be a monologue for Mom's comfort.

I call. Heather puts me on speaker phone, and says she will 'translate' for me if need be. I'm still a little dazed from the phone call and now, less than 24 hours later, I can't remember exactly what happened, but part of the conversation went something like this. I thanked her for being my Mom, and then she said something I didn't understand. I uttered a confused, 'What?" and then Heather translated for me, "She said, 'You're welcome.'"

And that just about did me in. It's hard for me to even type this--those are the last words I will ever hear from my mother.

I held it together and managed to finish the monologue (I'm sure that if I could remember it, I could win a Pulitzer for it). Then my Dad said that he loved me. Now, what's unusual about this is that my parents got separated (and eventually divorced) over 30 years ago. I knew he was there to help my sister + brother-in-law with all the physical demands on them, but I didn't know he was in the room as I was saying my final good-byes to my Mom via speaker phone. That was kind of weird.

But, I'm a weird guy, so I guess that's fitting. :)