Hey, Mom! The Explanation.

Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #700 - "FOOL! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!"

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #700 - "FOOL! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!"

Hi Mom,

"FOOL!! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!!"

I love this being my 700th post in Hey Mom.

I was going to stop at #365.

I didn't.

"FOOL!! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!!"

Some people told me to "get over it."

Here's my response to that advice:

90 days and 88 blog entries

Then here's what I wrote for post #365.

"FOOL!! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!!"

Another 700??

The two year anniversary approaches.




"FOOL!! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!!"

Here's a couple of entries that seem right to share again in post #700.

Thanks for reading.

Hey Mom #98 (100 days ago)

Mom contemplating death
Her family's grave marker
May 11, 2011
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #98 - 100 days and Learning to Die

Hi Mom,

You died 100 days ago.

This feels like a mile stone, a marker of passage, and yet I cannot fully the effect of the rite of passage.

The time seems to have passed quickly.

The time seems to have passed very slowly.

I might not be counting days if not for this blog.

If not for this blog, I might not be aware that you died 100 days ago.

I am not sure how I feel about this mile marker.

And then Dad sent me this photo. Just randomly. He did not know one hundred days had passed.

And yet the photo seems perfect for today's blog.

I labeled the photo as you contemplating death as you are staring at the grave stone for your family in New Lothrop, and yet, I doubt you were actually thinking about death.

I know you thought of death from time to time; you discussed it with Dad.

I contemplated what it would be like when you died from time to time as well. But I could not anticipate how surreal it feels, how NOT NORMAL and yet normal, as I am surrounded by normal, and I am adjusting to change, and yet I am still in denial and in disbelief.

It's very much like quantum physics.

Liesel gave me this article a few weeks ago. This author and I, like another friend of mine, and Sarah Silverman, and my wife and so many others are all part of the "our mothers are dead" club. For this author, her mother died four years ago (2011, which was when this picture featured up top was taken) and yet her mother's death was ongoing as the author learned what deaths means as she comes to grip with her own ill-conceived assumptions. She closes the article with "I thought she would live forever."

LINK TO LEARNING TO DIE ARTICLE

I did not think you would live forever, Mom. I knew we were on borrowed time ever since the meningitis in 2000. And yet, I tricked myself into thinking there would be more time. You would live into your 80s, maybe even your 90s, I said many times. After all, you came back from death's door with the meningitis. You had many close calls after that, and yet, you proved yourself so strong. You kept hanging on. Your will to live seemed insuperable. Even when we learned you had the degenerative palsy, I still tricked myself. You were on a plateau. You might stay on that plateau for a long time. As I watched you decline, I knew the borrowed time was growing shorter, and yet I still bargained. I thought you would live on for a long time, not forever but longer than most doctors believed possible. And you did. It was just not long enough. I want more time.

And now one hundred days have ticked off since you crossed over into the beyond and your body was taken away and we said goodbye with loved ones and I have been writing and writing and hearing your voice and feeling you and talking to you and still, it's not enough, but it is what is. It's all there is. It sustains.

And I miss you, Mom, but no more than I did 100 days ago in that first glimpse of your corpse that was no longer drawing breath. I miss you a great deal Mom. The feeling moves in and out like the tide, sometimes it's stronger, sometimes I am distracted by other things, and so it seems less (though it's not), and yet, unlike the days, the feeling of missing you is not growing.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 100 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.12 - 20:43
and finally 1510.13 - 11:34



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Link to Hey Mom #500

Mom with Lori
Lori = 3 months and 1 day old
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #500 - Number 500

Hi Mom,

I have been doing this blog for 500 days, which means you have been dead for 502 days.

This number seems inconceivable to me, but it shouldn't.

In my life I have lived through over 19,000 days so far. 500 days is not a significant portion of that number, which means I have lived more days with you alive than with you not alive.

You could not say the same in regards to your mother -- who died when you were 19 years old -- and then you went on to live to be almost 79 years old.

I have fallen behind on blog production, so I am writing this entry over a week later, but this falling behind has nothing to do with how I feel about you, Mom, or the difficult time I am having with missing you at this particular Thanksgiving (as I will describe in another post).

I am done with re-posting content for a while. My new plan for catching up involves about a week of posts of old photos of your family and as many with you as I can share. All new photos that I know I have not shared yet because I have not yet scanned them. These photos will make a tribute to 500 days of blogging and living without you that feels grand enough for that number.

500 days, Mom. I never thought I would make it this far without you.

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 502 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1611.18 - 10:10

NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.




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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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- Days ago = 702 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1706.06 - 10:10

NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.

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