I can't believe that came from your mouth!
Posts tagged mom
The Last Gasp of the Potato Rock
May 17th
When we were growing up my Mom used to keep 20 lb sacks of potatoes in the garage for use in cooking. One of her favorite recipes (and my least favorite) was a Sunday Roast which required several peeled potatoes and a pot roast.
While digging out in the neighboring vacant lots, my brothers and I encountered a rounded river rock that looked surprisingly like an Idaho Potato. It had dirt caked in all the right places, felt similar to the touch and had the same mass of a typical potato, so we did what any other kid would do- we put that rock in Mom’s potato sack and just waited for Sunday Roast.
Sunday came ’round and Mom was surprised when all three of her boys watched her try to peel potatoes, each with a grin on their face. Out came the potato-rock and we watched as Mom sparked the peeler against the hard surface of the rock and we each burst out with howling laughter. “Very funny boys!” she scolded and tossed the rock into the trash.
We pulled that rock out of the trash and put that rock right back in the potato sack. This trick went on for years. Mom even tried to hurl the rock over the fence into a vacant lot, but we hunted that rock down and stuck it back in her potato sack again. If the rock got too clean looking, we would grind it into the dirt to simulate standard potato grit. The damn rock even looked like it had eyes. Mom even became accustomed to thumping each of her potatoes with a spoon to test for density, screeching at us each time she encountered that accursed potato-rock.
When Mom died yesterday morning at 2:30 AM, my other two brothers were sharing a bedside vigil. They watched as her breathing quickened, became more shallow, and gasped to a halt. This breathing pattern was a radical change from the rhythmic comatose gasps she had been taking for about 8 hours prior. They waited several minutes, coming to grips with her passing- holding her hands and telling her they loved her, and that it was okay to let go.
After ten minutes of prayer and silence, and my brothers still holding her hands, Mom suddenly gasped out a loud soprano moan- simply some built-up pressure still remaining within her lungs. My kid brother almost sharted himself at the sudden outburst. My older brother jumped too. And when their adrenaline subsided, my older brother turned to my younger brother and said, “That was for the potato rock!”
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There are Definitely Worse Ways to Go
May 15th
My Mom got to enjoy a beautiful Mother’s Day. She went to Church, taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, and enjoyed a nice lunch with my Dad, brother and sister-in-law. Then she went to the grocery store to pick up a few items, and, as is their custom, my parents took a nap on Sunday afternoon- my Mom in her big easy chair and my Dad in his reclining bed.
During her nap the Doctors think she experienced a moment of atrial fibrillation- just a simple irregular heartbeat that she had been tested for but never confirmed- and that abnormal rhythm may have caused some clotted blood to form in her heart and then get pumped into her brain, causing a massive stroke. It was as if her lights had been blinked out.
For a while yesterday morning she was partially aware of her surroundings in the hospital. Should could move one of her arms and could open her eyes and look around as best she could with partial paralysis. She understood that her family was with her, despite her inability to speak. As the doctors were explaining to us that her symptoms would render her permanently disabled, I could see a sadness or sorrow wash across her face. Her greatest fear in life was that she would end up like her own mother- disabled and speechless from a stroke, and the idea briefly dawned on her that this was to be her fate as well.
I think it was at that moment that she prayed for the Lord to take her- and she has been in a deep coma ever since. She is not on any life sustaining medical devices, or monitoring services in the quiet hospice area of the hospital. As I write this, her breathing is becoming more and more strained as the swelling in her brain pushes against the critical functions of her brainstem. Over all, it is probably not a bad way to leave the world. At one moment you are having a very Happy Mother’s Day and the next its like the snap of the fingers and lights out.
All our deepest appreciation to the staff of #Sentara in Hampton for their compassion and care for our Mom. You’ve been wonderful.
— Dr. Jones (@BelchSpeak) May 15, 2012
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