Mother has passed on.  What a polite phrase for that irreversible step where you can no longer contact someone ever again.

I have been expecting and truthfully hoping for this event for some time.  When I attended church with Pat and she prayed for mother to get better, I prayed for her to be taken.  A horrible thought for a son but she has suffered so long and her life was miserable.

But when the phone call came through that my prayers were answered I should have felt joy or at least relief, but I admit I had the selfish feeling of sadness because I would not be able to enjoy talking to her.

In the last few years I had gotten in the habit of talking to her 3 – 4 times a week.  Never great events but conversations.  For the last few months we had reminisced more as she suffered from short term memory losses.  I would normally end by describing the unusual or exotic meal that Pat and I had prepared or were preparing and inevitably her comment was “no wonder you are so fat”

I love that woman and I will miss the phone calls………