My friend Lem and I visited my mom. Lem was expecting to see my mom very sick and ghostly, but interacting with us. What he got was just the opposite, “her skin is beautiful, she looks so peaceful, but uncommunicative..”
Mom slept through the entire visit, not uttering one word. Lem said, “This is hard, don’t know really what to say.” It is awkward visiting someone who says nothing and sleeps in front of you. I told Lem, “I try to do what I think she would want. Make sure she is clean, warm her hands with mine, and make sure she has her hair done and make-up on. That is so important to mom.”
Lem and I held mom’s hands and spoke about the influence that our mom’s had on us. The crazy things that they did that made their way into our DNA. Then I gave mom a kiss and told her, “I love you.” Her eyes popped open and she said, “I love you.”
Lem looked at me in amazement, like a child’s first words. “Wow,” he commented, “What a wonderful thing to remember after you have forgotten everything else.”
