For those of you following along, I have been sharing stories of my Mom all month long. It is my way of coping with what was to come… the 5th year anniversary of her death. Today, we gathered as a family, celebrated and remembered her. We usually get together for lunch or dinner, but this year we decided to take a ride to one of her favorite places, the beach!
My Dad, sisters, nephew, my boys and I took a ride down to the West Dennis, MA. As a kid, we use to rent a house there in the summer time. My Dad and sisters still make it part of their summer vacations. Like Mom, we all love the beach. There is something about the ocean that instantly makes us feel better. It is good for the soul. As my boys ran around with a football, I snapped some photos of my nephew and then had a bit of quiet time to reflect. There is so much that has happened over the last 5 years. There have been many milestones. There have been happy times and sad times, all of which have happened without her by our side. One thing is for certain, we as a family have become closer.
These are my people. These are the people that I love fiercely. These are the people, even when we don’t agree or see eye to eye, have my back. If any good came of her death, it was the bond that I have with my family.
Losing a parent is downright awful. Losing a parent in a matter of weeks after learning of a diagnosis was unbearable. I never knew such pain and unless one has gone through it, there is no way one can understand. I am just glad to have made it through another year.
February 28, 2014- Five years ago, Robbie and I were in Maine for a hockey tournament. I had left town knowing my Mom was being seen for a lump in her breast and other testing to see if the cancer had spread. I will never forget, standing in the lobby of the restaurant, taking a call from my sister. The cancer had indeed spread. It is was in her liver. It was stage 4. My mom got on the phone and we chatted for a few minutes. I never felt more alone or scared than I did that night. I did not want Robbie to know anything was wrong, so I wiped the tears and joined him and his team mates for dinner. Later that night, my friend Kim and her son, Daniel, would make the drive to Maine, so I would not feel so alone. I am forever grateful for that. That is true friendship.
So, why am I telling you all this? Well, as I mentioned, in the “About Me” section of this blog, my Mom’s death has been a major factor in a lot of the things I have done over the last few years. Losing her so young (only 61), made me realize how precious life is. We are only on this Earth for a very short time and no one knows when that time is up. We have to take chances, go for those dreams, live life to the fullest. Her death changed me.
Mom was diagnosed on February 28, 2014 and died on March 24, 2014. She was gone in less than a month. March was already a tough month for my family. We lost both my grandmothers and an uncle in the month of March. Now with Mom gone, March has become that much harder. I remember those weeks leading up to her death and how quickly she deteriorated. I remember crying myself to sleep and consoling my boys as they watched her slip away. I remember the pain on my Dad’s face, as he lost his one true love. In light of this, I thought I would try something new this year. I thought I would use this platform, and throughout the month of March, tell you a bit about my Mom and share my favorite things about her. I want to remember the happy this March and not the sad. So over the next few weeks, I hope you will join me and follow along, as I share my Mom with all of you. For those of you that knew her, I would love for you to share your favorite story about her as well.
