Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Surprise Email



Last week we tried to fix my mother's old desk top. Impossible. I spent two shopping trips with her to find a laptop and printer and today she got one. When I moved her AOL email over to Google she found many old emails she hadn 't opened when she was still caring for my Dad. In one was this picture my sister's friend had taken of them the Christmas of 2009. I had forgotten he looked so alert then. This past Christmas he was disconnected from most of Christmas and us with a faraway look. It's been six months since he left us and I still miss him. I still cry when I see pictures and remember how difficult the last two years of his life were. Noone could have convinced him that he would have ended up so helpless. Now he is gone and my mother struggles and living to regret that she didn't want to be bothered with information that we know struggle to find. Their stone has been ordered and should be there for his birthday, Oct. 27th. We are hoping to have a family unveling of the stone followed be a gathering. I can hear my father laughing at that saying "Wow they throw this shindig for you when you can't attend. Is that fair?" My father's death has taught our entire family something: you truly don't know how much you love someone until they are gone. No matter how much you think you know what it will be like, you can't imagine. Time goes on and the freshness of the pain lessens but the void remains. Life goes on and you must too. It's what he would have wanted.

1 comment:

TARYTERRE said...

What a beautiful photo of your parents. I'm glad you found it in the emails. What you say is so poignant about a loved ones passing. "Time goes on and the freshness of the pain lessens but the void remains." This is so true. I know you are still suffering with this loss. Let the memories sustain you. Take care of yourself, Nelle.