My mom has been gone for two weeks now.
I feel her slip further away with every day that passes.
I'm not going to lie - it sucks. I'm having a tough time with this process.
♥
{My mom loved strawberries ~ this was an arrangement sent to her services.}
I've mentioned that I was able to spend the last five days of my mom's life with her. Those days were filled with love and conversation and heartbreak and awfulness. Cancer is seriously the most cruel way ever to die, and it's also cruel to loved ones who witness the suffering of someone with cancer.
I know that my presence made my mom's journey more bearable for her, and I'm pretty sure my step-dad {Rod} was glad I was there too. In those moments of sadness, knowing that my mom didn't have long to live, there was a strength that came to me out of nowhere - a strength that I didn't know existed within me. Looking back, it all seems very surreal, and in
this moment I
know that I made it through with the help of prayer/good vibes/love being sent my way from all over the planet.
Blog friends, local friends, family members blessed me every moment of every day, and in turn it blessed my mom. I was there to hold her hand, to sing to her, to even smile at her and wish her a peaceful journey as she prepared to leave this world.
On the day that my mom died, I had access to the internet on my phone. As Carrie drove us from Mom's house back to my sister's, I scrolled through my messages and I couldn't believe my eyes. SO many lovely thoughts and messages were being sent to us, and beautiful blog posts were popping up to honor my mom.
Oh my gosh, you guys, my mom would have LOVED that!
I couldn't leave comments that day, so I made a mental list
{not completely reliable in times of duress} and vowed to gather a list of links so that Rod could read them too.
I've pieced together a list of links for blog posts that mentioned my mom, and I'm sharing them below.
THANK YOU to each of you who posted about my mom,
and for all of those who left such lovely comments on those posts. I have read each of them more than once, and I know others who loved my mom will appreciate them too. They are as follows:
♥ Fiona @
Staring at the Sea ~ a beautiful image in honor of my mom.
♥ Deb @
Deb's World ~ a sweet mention in anticipation of next spring.
♥ Rinda @
Gallo Organico ~ a beautiful poem.
♥ Cheri @
Scrap Dreams ~ described her feelings when she lost her mom
{I just couldn't have said it better myself!} {And she also had us in mind for
her Friday quote that week.}
♥ Karen @
Random Reflections ~ a very sweet note just before ten super cute photos of her little grandson.
♥ Karen @
Tales from the Scrapheap ~ re-posted her lovely post from my mom's birthday party last year.
♥ Amy @
Over at Our Place ~ a beautiful image, sentiment, and ovarian cancer awareness message.
♥ Alison @ Life in the Slow Lane ~ a
sweet note posted the day before my mom died, and
this lovely poem later on.
♥ Sian @
From High in the Sky ~ a lovely post about blog friendships.
♥ Jo @
Curly Scrapper ~ The link to the left is for Jo's lovely 10 on the 10th post that she dedicated to ovarian cancer awareness. There are two other posts that are very noteworthy with regard to a Team Teal quilting bee:
part I and
part II.
And finally,
♥ Stephanie @
La Dolce Vita ~ said it best with her "Thank You" message for the loveliness that is blogging friendship.
If I've missed anyone, please let me know so I can add you to this list. I don't want Rod to miss one little bit of the love you've shown in honor of my mom.
And finally, an extra special thank you for all of your lovely comments, emails, cards, love, and support during this difficult time. I'm looking forward to this sad part being behind us, and all of your little reminders help push me in that direction. I am so very grateful for each of you.
♥ ~ Deb