The Blink Of An Eye

What a week this has been. Mom was released from the Hospital and Hospice made sure every single thing we could possibly dream of was delivered.

Mom's condition was horrible in the Hospital but once she came home she perked right up and has even gotten her voice back where she can be heard. You talk about a huge relief! Just imagine how difficult it is on a person who desperately tries to tell you something and they can't be understood.

Fortunately for me, I grew up with an Aunt & Uncle who were both deaf. My Uncle could hear up until he was 9 years old, so he could talk but over the years he couldn't pronounce words very well in his later years. However, even though he was hard to understand, he insisted that you never shake your head yes or simply agree with him, knowing you couldn't understand what he said. So we learned to read lips extremely well and since I spent the most time with them, I could understand everything my Mother was trying to say in the Hospital and I have to tell you, she was so relieved whenever I've been around.

I've been feeling like I can't leave her side because I didn't want her frustrated. Since she got her voice back yesterday I was able to take a little bit of a break last night and today and catch up on some much needed sleep. I'll head back to Annapolis some time this morning and enjoy some more quality time with Mom.

Her siblings have been able to come down and visit with her as well as all of her Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. The look on her face when each and every one of them arrived has been priceless.

Mom said that her life on this earth is but a "Blink of an eye" and she's at such peace knowing she'll spend eternity with God. One can only wish everyone had this same peace and understanding.

This coming week will be pretty challenging. My Bothers and Sister have chosen to be Mom's caretakers. Hospice will come in one to three times a week for an hour, or so each day. In the mean time we have broken down two shifts a day, making sure there are two of us available in the evenings. Mom likes to think she can get up out of her Hospital Bed in the evenings in order to get things done. You know, usually around 4:00 AM when she thinks everyone is asleep, NOT!

That being said, I'll be covering the 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM shift every day, traveling from Delmar to Annapolis most days. I am able to access my e-mail and appreciate the information everyone is sending in and calling in so we can keep things flowing.

What I'd like to share with everyone is that I can't express deeply enough how much I appreciate everyone understanding this period in my life. I have dedicated almost 5 years of my life to Salisbury News and to get a report from Site Meter every day showing out visits are almost exactly the same as it was before all of this came about, it truly makes my day every day. The kind wishes have been very uplifting and even the messages asking me to Post certain topics, messages and articles have been a huge help.

Last night I took a break from everything and came back to Salisbury to support my very dear friends Hal Chernoff, Fernando Guerrero and Alex Guerrero. Folks, THANK YOU! Wait until you see the pictures of the crowd last night at the Shorebirds Stadium! Of course Fernando won his Title Fight as did Alex. The support ALL of you have given to this Sport as well as the Main Street Gym and the Guerrero Family has truly been overwhelming. If you took all of the people sitting on the field last night and placed them in the stands, there wouldn't have been a seat left in that Stadium. That's impressive! I'll have photos available tomorrow of this event.

I have to head back to Annapolis for the day. You enjoy your Sunday, call your Mother and Father and tell them how much you love them. I can't stress enough how important it is while you have them to ask some basic questions. Mom, what are your wishes when you die. Do you want to be buried, cremated, where would you like to be buried, etc.. Trust me, we had no idea what Mom wanted and we thought we were never going to have her back to a level in which we could hold this discussion, let alone understand what her response was. Fortunately Mom woke up at 4:00 AM Saturday morning and shared with my Brother that she wanted to be buried next to her Dad in New York. We had NO CLUE! If we had to make that decision on our own, Mom would have been buried right in the Annapolis area and we would have made a huge mistake.

It may not be a question you feel comfortable about and when I asked several of my friends what their parents wishes were, they had no idea. They would say, that's not the type of topic we're used to bringing up. Don't assume there's a Will and everything perfectly spelled out for you. Mom may have one but we have yet to be able to locate it if there is.

In many cases over the years, this Blog has been able to bring up many topics of information in which you wouldn't normally read in places like the Daily Times and so forth. We simply assumed that out of five of us, one of us would have known these answers and we too never brought it up. After all, Mom is only 70.

So take the extra few minutes and use this Blog as your reason why you're asking these questions. Tell them you want to make sure their wishes are completely fulfilled. Here's another thing I never knew. If you're Catholic, I didn't know the Church, (while they only recently chose to accept cremation) wishes you to be buried on Holy Ground. They do not believe in spreading your ashes anywhere. I had no clue, until yesterday. OK, I know many of you aren't Catholic and may wish to argue this issue. If you do, please do so with respect towards those who do agree. We can agree to disagree on many topics and do so with class, especially on this particular Post.

OK, I have to run. Have a fantastic day everyone and like I said yesterday, we'll be as good as new very soon.