Mom

Hi,
mom has died and we are sitting shivah.

My mother fought a long and hard battle, starting almost 30 years ago when she developed MS symptoms that just kept getting worse. In the last few years she was crippled up with the disease, needing a walker and scooter to get around. My mom had to give up tennis, golf, tai chi, walking and many other of her favorite activities. Cooking became a chore, she had to become left handed as her right hand dexterity gave out and even needlepointing eventually became too difficult. That didn't stop her from travelling around on her scooter to do food shopping or get to the library. Mom worked very hard to try and have a 'normal' life and some days it wasn't easy.

Then the accident happened. Three months ago she was hit by a car while trying to cross the road at a crosswalk in Florida. That, in turn, took her life struggle to new levels. Mom fought back from 5 surgeries, was in the hospital for three months and finally was able to come home two weeks ago. She still needed daily help to get even the simplest things accomplished and it was going to take a lot more therapy and effort on her part to get her life back, but she was trying.

Friday night, after what my dad thought was a delicious dinner, mom complained of not feeling well. By 10:00pm she was throwing up and at 11:00 dad called an ambulance to take her back into the hospital. He stayed with her all night, but by 6:00pm Saturday the doctors still weren't able to figure out what the problem was. They sent dad home to get some sleep while they continued to run tests on mom. At 2:00am on Sunday they called dad to say mom's blood pressure had dropped to a critical level and they had moved her into ICU. He rushed down to the hospital but by the time he got there, she was gone, her heart had stopped and we were all left in shock.

The Jewish tradition forbids an autopsy and knowing why mom died was not going to bring her back. We all rallied around and flew into the city within 5 hours of getting a call from dad. The funeral was organized and by Monday mom was laid to rest and we started to sit shivah (a week long period of mourning). Shivah is over Sunday morning and life resumes with out Libby, but only in the physical. We remain to carry on her memory and legacy, hoping to make her proud of what her life created.

xox
m