Return to...

...what life is supposed to be without our mother. She requested graveside services only for herself and we went along with her wishes. The services were poignant, sad, beautiful, meaningful, lonely (even with so many surrounding us), but we all survived it. The celebration of her life which followed was all of the above but with some funny stories, as well. My mother's pastor passed around a microphone for anyone who wanted to say anything about my mom and, surprisingly many did have something to say. This was all recorded and will be copied onto CD's for my sister, brother and I. There were some sweet and inspirational things said, as well as funny stories, so it will be a treasure for us to keep.

Onward and upward....

My mother...

...has passed from this life to be with her Heavenly Father last night. By Saturday night, following her Friday surgery, it appeared that her kidneys were failing and  her condition began to decline. Sunday and yesterday had us seeing her go into and out of consciousness, she seemed to have one foot here in this world and one in the after-life. My sister, brother and I made the difficult decision to remove the meds that were only artificially maintaining her blood pressure in the afternoon and she passed away last night at 11:30. We feel her fast passing validated our decision to not keep her with us artificially as that would not have been her wish. 

As I figure out how to go through the rest of my life as an orphan, I remain thankful for the family I had and that we got to have my mom with us for almost 92 years, and that she was independent and mostly healthy up until the end.

God is good.....Susan

All is Well...

...although it was another blip on our family's medical radar. My mother, pictured below on Thanksgiving Day, fell and broke her hip Thursday afternoon. Late yesterday she had a total hip replacement, so we had a late night at the hospital. She is doing very well for a 91-year-old, as she says "I am a tough Norwegian"!

Thursday afternoon I started a full sheet painting of Canyon de Chelly. I covered the entire sheet with watercolor, but am considering what I have done so far as the underpainting as I am not so pleased with it. I am considering using either gouache or acrylic paint for the detailing and highlighting. Might be fun, anyway, to try something different along with the watercolor. As soon as I take a photo of what I have done so far, I will post it. But, it is to be considered a work in progress!