Endings and beginnings

My mother died on Tuesday and I have been avoiding writing about it yet knowing that I must eventually. How could I honestly write an account of our ongoing life on the road without writing about such a climactic event?

We knew when we came out in August that she didn't have much time left. That was a large part of the reason - perhaps all of the reason - for their move into Victoria Park. They got settled in there and she slowly let go of some of the responsibility for caring for father. She never entirely let go of that responsibility though. She went into the hospital last Thursday - I last spoke to her on the phone Sunday night and she was still worried about how father was going to cope. She was very much at peace with her own destiny but concerned about how father would manage without her. And that's an open question. There is no doubt that he is better off in Victoria Park and that they will do their best to look after him but there are a lot of pieces to his life that he will not be able to keep together. Fortunately he seems to realize that and be willing to give up some of the authority and responsibility for his own well being so perhaps it will work out.

I'm sure at some level mother knew this summer that there was something seriously wrong with her health but I don't think she knew until she went into the hospital this time just how imminent her death was. She seemed genuinely unafraid of her approaching death, not eager to leave her friends here but ready for whatever came next. She spoke repeatedly about the phrase from the United Church creed which says "God is with us, we are not alone, thanks be to God". She also spoke of seeing the hand of God in the people who surrounded her at the end - the palliative care doctors and nurses, her friends and her family. We could all take some lessons about facing our ultimate destiny from her example.

The sale of our acreage meanwhile is progressing at breakneck speed. Sandra Carson is working her magic with land titles and we expect to close on or before the end of November. We have been blessed with some excellent weather for clearing the house out although I understand that things have taken a turn for the worse in the past few days. We left Nipawin the morning after Mom died and moved the bus to Regina to be with father for the interim. We will need to go back to Nipawin, finish up there and then get to warmer climes before this old Prevost freezes up solid. Fortunately the ProHeat which gave me so much trouble last winter and this spring appears to be working well now and we have managed to stay warm at night. Its really pushing the envelope though to live in an RV in this kind of weather and we can't expect to do it forever. The sooner we can get to a lower latitude the better it will be.