The big news this week concerns my mother. She passed away this last Monday evening.
Mom was 91 and living in a care center in Abbotsford, Wisconsin. I’d had a video chat with her last Thursday and she seemed to be about the same as she’s been for the last several months. (Due to Covid-19 I hadn’t been able to visit her in person.) However, on Sunday I received a call from her chief care giver, my cousin Marge Rohland, with the suggestion that I come to the care center, as Mom had taken a turn for the worse.
I drove to Abbotsford, which is just under 5 hours from Elma, and located the care center. My brother Jon and sister Kitt (Carolyn) were there. My other sister, Sienna, arrived shortly after me.
Not much happened the rest of that day. Jon, who had to work on Monday, left for home (Stoddard, Wisconsin) late in the afternoon.
The three of us – myself, Sienna, and Kitt – returned to the care center Monday morning. Through the day and into the early evening we talked and compared notes about life, kids, and our parents.
I didn’t really want to spend a second night in the hotel and it seemed as if Mom had stabilized at a new level, so I left around 4:30 p.m. to head for home. Sienna, who lives closer to Abbotsford, left later. Kitt, who lives south of Chicago, remained with Mom.
I had no sooner returned home and my phone rang. It was Kitt. She told me Mom had passed away at about 9:28 PM.
While I hadn’t been close to Mom for some time [for a number of reasons] and her passing was not unexpected, it was a sad moment just the same.
My mother’s graveside service will be this Thursday at the Riverside Cemetery near Withee. Mom was born and raised near Withee along with her 8 surviving brothers and 1 sister, many of whom are buried in that same cemetery. Mom and Dad had purchased a plot there decades ago and Mom will be interned next to Dad. The stone had already been prepared and only the date of death needs to be added to make it complete.
A Celebration of Life is planned after the internment has taken place, but it will be restricted to close family and invited guests due to Covid-19. That is sad, as Mom taught school in Greenwood for more than two decades and Dad delivered mail. Both were very well known and respected in the community and many more people, I think, would have stories to tell at a celebration.
If anyone reading this would care to leave a comment, the funeral home has an Obituaries page with a “Post Condolences” link. That site is http://www.cuddiefh.com/obituaries/index.php
I will be driving north a day before the graveside service/celebration of life, meet with some relatives who are coming in for the service, and check to make sure all other arrangements have been made. Kitt is taking the lead on these affairs; I’m just supporting her when appropriate. She and I get along well and are closer than I am to Jon or Sienna.
I will have some photos of the service in my next post. In the meantime, here is a photo of Mom as she appeared a couple years ago.
Next week’s service and celebration will end that chapter in her book of life.
Here at 702, other projects, none large, have received attention. Pam has been sanding the reproduction living room doors we purchased last spring. The bright green oil paint was not to her liking, so she worked to remove the color and re-stain the door. Here is a photo of that work in progress:
Once door #1 is done it will be on to door #2 (at some future point). Pam has decided not to sand the door edges (which are hidden, for the most part, when the doors are in the normally closed positions).
We’re still waiting for the garage door and three windows (which will go in the original garage) so no additional construction was done on the garage addition this week. I did construct a stoop for the back door and put up a few more shelves. My construction projects were done with scrap and left over pieces of wood.
The alley side of the addition received a retaining wall which should help keep gravel off the yard and makes the approach a bit neater.
I also back-filled around the garage addition using dirt from the pile left over from the slab’s excavation.
Around the yard, flowers near the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden (east side of house) are doing very well. Becky requested a photo or two of this area so here you go!
Photo Archive
This week’s archive features pictures of Boreas Pass, Colorado. This pass has special significance for us since Pam’s mother’s ashes are spread at the top near an old cabin. These photos were taken in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Still too hot and humid to start painting porches. At least I finished sanding one of the reproduction doors.
Happy Trails.