expired half and half
The first day I woke up at my mom's empty house without her, the cat was sitting there staring at me so I got up. When I looked at the half and half in the fridge I noted that it had expired the same day she did - March 10th. I poured it in my coffee anyway and did not see any clumps so I drank it and so far am okay.
This small town is covered with snow - more than I have seen in a while, but not as much as there was a few weeks ago, according to the town folk. Today though, it is sunny and has warmed up to 40 degrees and some of it promises to melt. I went for a run this am and there is still snow and ice on many of the streets. But the air smells so good it is almost painful. Siggie made me scrambled eggs for breakfast and pepper bacon.
It hasn't been bad staying alone at my mom's house with the cat, named simply "kitty". Poor kitty - she was my dad's cat and missed him when he died, but got to know my mom the last few years. She sleeps in mom's chair all night keeping an eye on me - so far she hasn't attacked me which she is known to do sometimes. I could have stayed next door with my sister but I think my mom would have wanted me to stay there - and maybe watch Lifetime Movie Network movies. There are limits to what I will do and lifetime movies is one of them.
One of the hard jobs I had to do was tell the Schwann man that my mom had died. He came to deliver her pepper bacon. Her freezer is still full of Schwann products, like prepared sausage and egg biscuits, soup, and pizza. She loved that pepper bacon. And she loved the Schwann man who saved her delivery to last so he could chat with her. He was a bright spot in her day once every other week. Often he would have coffee with her and listen to her stories about when the small town was booming. He had coffee with me too and we both agreed that the bad thing about having old people friends is that they die on you. I think I babbled quite a bit and found myself doing that to everyone I talked to...I don't know if it is to make them feel better or make me feel better or if it might be what I always do.
I also had to tell Carol, the lady who helped my mom bathe twice a week. Carol came over and said that my mom was more than a patient...she was her best friend. She said she just had to come over one more time and I invited her back next week. Carol came over to my mom's on her day off and after my mom's bath, they had a coffee with home made Irish Creme in it.
People are good everywhere but small town people seem to care so deeply. Maybe it is because they know so much about each other. The lady who played the organ when I was a kid going to Sunday school will play "Amazing Grace" and other hymns at my mom's funeral. She also will bring us dinner tonight.
My mom will be cremated like she wanted. My sister and I laughed when we had to sign a waiver saying we understood that cremation was irreversible. My mom would have laughed too.
This small town is covered with snow - more than I have seen in a while, but not as much as there was a few weeks ago, according to the town folk. Today though, it is sunny and has warmed up to 40 degrees and some of it promises to melt. I went for a run this am and there is still snow and ice on many of the streets. But the air smells so good it is almost painful. Siggie made me scrambled eggs for breakfast and pepper bacon.
It hasn't been bad staying alone at my mom's house with the cat, named simply "kitty". Poor kitty - she was my dad's cat and missed him when he died, but got to know my mom the last few years. She sleeps in mom's chair all night keeping an eye on me - so far she hasn't attacked me which she is known to do sometimes. I could have stayed next door with my sister but I think my mom would have wanted me to stay there - and maybe watch Lifetime Movie Network movies. There are limits to what I will do and lifetime movies is one of them.
One of the hard jobs I had to do was tell the Schwann man that my mom had died. He came to deliver her pepper bacon. Her freezer is still full of Schwann products, like prepared sausage and egg biscuits, soup, and pizza. She loved that pepper bacon. And she loved the Schwann man who saved her delivery to last so he could chat with her. He was a bright spot in her day once every other week. Often he would have coffee with her and listen to her stories about when the small town was booming. He had coffee with me too and we both agreed that the bad thing about having old people friends is that they die on you. I think I babbled quite a bit and found myself doing that to everyone I talked to...I don't know if it is to make them feel better or make me feel better or if it might be what I always do.
I also had to tell Carol, the lady who helped my mom bathe twice a week. Carol came over and said that my mom was more than a patient...she was her best friend. She said she just had to come over one more time and I invited her back next week. Carol came over to my mom's on her day off and after my mom's bath, they had a coffee with home made Irish Creme in it.
People are good everywhere but small town people seem to care so deeply. Maybe it is because they know so much about each other. The lady who played the organ when I was a kid going to Sunday school will play "Amazing Grace" and other hymns at my mom's funeral. She also will bring us dinner tonight.
My mom will be cremated like she wanted. My sister and I laughed when we had to sign a waiver saying we understood that cremation was irreversible. My mom would have laughed too.
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