Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all the bloggers and readers and lurkers a very happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones.
I am fortunate that I will be visiting my good girl and she will be cooking a turkey for us. I can certainly look forward to her hugs at this time.
And, again, thanks for all the bloggers and lurkers who commented on my last two blogs about my loss. It will be my first Thanksgiving now that both of my parents have departed.
I so look forward to spending the holiday with my good girl. It is the third Thanksgiving day in a row that we've been together and it makes the holiday even more special. The last two years she spent it here and now I will be at her place. Will be flying out today on the busiest travel day of the year. Don't expect any empty seats on the plane.
Hope you also have a special time on the holiday.

FD
  

Saying goodbye

It was a very emotional, draining experience to attend my mother's funeral and I want to thank all the bloggers who sent their best wishes.
I met many people I hadn't seen in years and it was so nice to hear so many of them saying so many good things about my mother.  She was a nurse and a half dozen of her former colleagues showed up wearing the caps and capes they wore back in the day.
She was very involved in her church and one of the priests at her service talked about how they decided to put together a book on all the religious denominations in the community. When only half of them replied to their letters, she called the ones that didn't reply. If they didn't the answer the  phone, she visited their places of worship to get the history of their congregation. When she was asked what brought her to their place of worship, she said you don't answer your mail. My mother always told it like it was.
Her church has a brunch after all the funeral services and one of the priests invited everybody to come and he then said you'd better show up. He smiled and said that's not me talking, that's her talking.
She lived in her own house until her mid 90s when she had to give up driving and move in with my sister about three and a one-half years ago.
She started planning the funeral a long time ago and even picked out her coffin back in 1998 with the last supper tableau on the front. They no longer had the same coffin but they had a similar one. I think she lived longer than she expected. She sometimes said in recent years, why hasn't God called for me. Has he forgotten about me? I think she was ready to leave us after a long and fruitful life at 98 although it would have been a milestone if she had reached 100. Sometimes I think death is tougher on those of us left behind than for the deceased who have probably gone to a better place.
And she was a quilter who made hundreds of pot holders for people to pick up at the funeral to help them remember her. And she even made things for breast cancer victims to wear under their arms.
At the cemetery, the first snowstorm of the year was falling. Kind of made it a poignant scene for someone who spent her life in snowy Michigan. She was buried next to my father next to my dad, who died in 1990.
And now my family and I are left with many memories. 
And now to change the subject, I missed Love Our Lurkers day. And for the lurkers who are reading this, I hope you will sign on and join our community. I was once a lurker myself until I was convinced by LOL to join in. That eventually led to me meeting some of the bloggers and then starting this blog. Welcome to all of you lurkers. This is a very welcoming community.  

FD

R.I.P.

This is not an easy post to write. My mother passed away early Tuesday at age 98.
She did live a long, productive, long life but it is still difficult to know your parents are both gone. My dad died in 1990 and I still think of things I want to tell him if he were here.
I will be leaving for Michigan in a few hours for the viewing on Friday and the funeral on Saturday. It will be an emotional time.
In my last post in early October -- I have to do a better job of blogging -- I talked about visiting her and my sister. It turns out that day she went to the hospital suffering from pneumonia. At least I got a chance to visit her in the hospital for a few days in what amounted to say goodbye. Although she did return home for a while, she spent her last days getting good care at a hospice facility.   
For those bloggers who have lost both their parents, you understand how I am feeling these days.
I am left with a lot of wonderful memories that I will always cherish.

FD.