Off Topic – My Mom, Tens Years Ago Today

This has nothing to do with business or the Internet. I wrote the following on Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000, ten years ago today. I still remember that day.

My mom, Ruth Walton, died today, Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000.

She was comfortable, at home, in peace, surrounded by the people she loved. She was a Christian since she was a little girl and did not fear death at all, but was looking forward to seeing Jesus. Her faith never wavered and she smiled, even to the end, when she could not speak. I will miss her, but I’m confident that she’s in a better place, one where she doesn’t need her wheelchair any more, where she can walk and dance, where she’s strong and has no pain.

She had a stroke 2 weeks ago. After some improvement from that, they found that she could not swallow properly, so that some food might go into her lungs and she had no coughing reaction. This meant that she could not eat anything by mouth or she would get pnuemonia. They wanted to put a feeding tube into her, but she had always said she didn’t want anyhthing like that. It would 3-4 months of rehabilitation for any hope of improvement with her throat. She was very weak, had a heart problem, and now damage from the stroke.

We all talked about it and came to the decision to bring her home and work with the natural process that was happening. We asked her and she said that she was ready and that she wanted to go home. We decided that eating would be allowed, even though it was causing her some harm, because in that harm, she would have some enjoyment. She was going to die with it or without it, and we wanted her to be happy and comfortable.

On Weds, April 19th, we brought her home. The night before, we gave her a sucker. She wanted an orange one. I hadn’t seen her that happy in a long time. She smiled a big smile for a very long time. When she got home, it was like she was a little kid on her birthday. She loved her cherry applesauce. She was happy to finally be home with the people she loved and out of the hospital. She’d been in the hospital for 9 days at that point.

The process of dying slowly progressed. She slept more and more each day. Someone was always up with her, watching. We took turns staying up all night. She relaxed and seemed to be at peace. Her breathing was a little more labored on the last day. We watched and held her hand. She finally slowed her breathing. Then she stopped. She was finally free.

I alternate between crying and laughing (and sleeping). I think God waited for Easter, Resurrection Day, just to remind us that in the future, we’ll see her again. I’m glad that her wait is over, that her struggle in this world is over. It’s a good thing.

conrad
April 23, 2000