My Mother

My mother died yesterday at 3 PM.

It was exactly one month after my father died.

It was on what would have been my father’s 88th birthday.

She was clear from the moment my father died that she wanted to die too.  Hospice nurse doesn’t want to believe that people can will themselves to die, and that was a fight.

My brother’s wife decided that her family, including my brother, could not stop their routine to take time to mourn her.

But my sister and I did what the whole family did after my father’s death, out to dinner with a grace.

Then we went to the spot next to the river where my parents used to love sit, look out and eat ice cream.  I bought their usual, a double dip dish of chocolate and maple walnut, and my sister and I ate on a black, dark night.

Then I levered the ice cream out of the bowl into the water.

“Some ice cream for the birthday party,” I said.  “Enjoy being together again.”

My sister and I held hands and walked back to the car.