My beautiful mum

Hi Everyone,

Some of you may or may not be aware but I have just returned back home to Western Australia after nearly 5 weeks in Tasmania. I was called for along with my two brothers on the 20th April because my mum was very unwell.

I arrived there on Thursday the 22nd April. She was very unwell (in hospital reliant on a cpap machine for 95% of the time to be able to breathe) and things were very grim. She improved slightly, however she was too unwell to return home. We were very fortunate to be offered a place in a very nice nursing home. We moved her there on the 3rd May. Every day was different - some days she was well (as well as she could be) and other days not too good.

On the 7th May she celebrated her 72nd birthday. A very difficult day for all - she knew and we knew it would be her last birthday. 2 days later it was Mothers day. A day with even more challenges - health wise and emotionally!

On the 10th May when I went in to visit her she was very bright, sitting in a chair, dressed (a rarity on both accounts in the past few weeks). It was so nice to see her appear so well. It did cross my mind is it the rise before the fall!

On the morning of the 11th May I visited her in the morning at around 11am. She was quite confused and seemed quite muddled, however I believe she still knew who I was (had not seen any signs of this prior to then). I stayed with her around 45 minutes. We talked about her beautiful grandsons, and then when it was time to say good bye I did what I always did - gave her a kiss and a hug and told her how much I loved her. She repeated it all back to me.

Sadly 2 hours later I received a call to say she had passed away! A HUGE shock and not expected so soon.

I miss her each and every day! I do not wish for her to be still suffering and I know that mum and dad are reunited (they were only apart for 7 months to the day) but it does not make it any easier.

Life is hard right now. Life was even harder for my mum though.

What more can I say except tell loved ones how much you love them every day. I will be back to blog some more soon. xxx

Mum and Dad, I love you all the way to the moon and back. xxx

PS ...... this picture was taken when we spent 3 weeks together in January 2009. x