Remembering Mom Myra

Image from Pinterest

There really was so much going on after mom was discharged from a two-week stay in hospital.  She had about one good week and then a sudden downward trajectory for about three weeks before she eventually succumbed to her comorbidities.  

Stephen and I were with her everyday.  She was in and out of wakefulness until the last few days.  When she was alert, she always said she was fine or that she was okay.  At that time, it was difficult watching her drift in and out of consciousness but now looking back it didn't seem so.  For her and for us, the days just folded between each other and there wasn't really time to think about anything.  Emotionally, it was draining but also was uplifting in many different ways.

I don't know if I will ever be able to encapsulate all that we felt with her and for her.  

At the wake and funeral, I do remember that many people thanked me for looking after her.  I didn't really feel that I did that.  But I did look out for her when she wasn't able to speak.  I did always tell her that I loved her.  I did always show her that I loved her.  If that is what looking after her meant, then yes, I guess I did look after her.  

What I will remember most about that day was how peacefully she left this world.  Just seconds before she took her last breath, she lifted her left hand ever so gently almost as if to say goodbye or maybe to reach out to the angels who were coming to take her to heaven.  Mom had not been moving at all for three days so this was quite unexpected. It was almost beautiful if it wasn't so final.  Stephen and I were on either side of her bed, and we didn't know it then but that was the moment she just quietly slipped away.

The nurses came to check and to confirm that she was gone. 

We expected it but still it was unexpected.  This closes the chapter of her story in our lives.  

Mom's final resting place is in a tranquil and serene part of Singapore.  This image gives me a lovely and loving closure to the last six years of the time spent with her. 

Picture taken by Stephen