Today, February 2, 2026 - 10 years ago today, my mother died [View all]

It doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed. I only remember bits and pieces of that day. She had a doctor's appointment at 4:40 and when I came home for lunch, I asked her if she would be ready to go by then and she said she would. Then she asked me for shampoo so she could wash her hair and I got it for her. I started to leave and something made me turn back and go kiss her on the cheek. I went back to work at 12:55 and when I got home at 3:55, she was lying on the sofa bed. I kind of chuckled to myself because I thought she was taking a nap, but she was gone. In only three hours. The rest is kind of a blur.

I remember dialing 911; I remember the EMTs and police being here, although I don't remember letting them in. I remember one cop asking me if my mother knew Jesus (what?) and then having to explain to him what agnostic means when I said that's what she was. I remember not being able to stop crying. I remember being mad that they left my mother lying on the floor after giving her CPR (I thought that was so disrespectful) and being told that wasn't really my mother, that she was gone and it was just her body. I was still mad about her body being on the floor. I remember how kind the funeral home people were when they came to take her away.

Speaking of which, about six months after the funeral, the owner of the funeral home, who was the third generation to own it, was arrested for embezzlement. It was all over the news. He was stealing the money from people who had pre-paid their funerals. And he seemed like such a nice man. Go figure.

Edited to add: is this the right forum? After reading "About this forum" I am not so sure.