In Memoriam Part Two

in my previous post on this I addressed people who passed too early in their lifetimes and mine. The most significant of these was the passing of my mother, Geraldine or Gerry. I’m not really sure how to start or end but I’ll give it a try. We knew my mother was a little bit sick and in pain. She did not have any visible symptoms. My sister, Cathy and I were woken one night and brought upstairs from our bedrooms in the basement. Our mother was on a EMT gurney and we were told to say goodbye to her before she went to the hospital. Cathy, myself and our infant brother Joe were then taken to a neighbors house until late the next morning. Our dad picked us up and we went for a walk. We could tell he was having trouble telling us something and the walking was to help. We walked quite a while until we were along some vacant lots in our neighborhood. It was there he told us that our mother did not make it and she was dead.

I remember thinking this news was impossible. It took a long time for it to sink in. My mother was gone. This is where it gets a little bizarre. My mother’s parents, were from St. Louis and their two sons came up for the funeral and other events. Maybe a little background on my mother’s parents would be helpful. To say the least Cathy and I were terrified of them. My mom’s father was very gruff and we thought mean. Our mother’s mother, Ruby was pretty scary to. Every time we were together she would make my mother cry because she was so mean to her. In general we were terrified of these people.

After the funeral my grandmother Ruby informed my father that they were going to follow every legal avenue to take Cathy I and Joe. They didn’t feel my father could raise us and they said were going to take them. This is very difficult for my father. We tried a nanny for a while but the cost was too much. We tried Cathy being in charge and taking care of my brother Joe who was an infant. This worked out the best and I tried to mind my sister as best I could.

This was in the fall of my fifth grade school year. Later that same fall my dad got the devastating news that his father had passed away. Cathy and I really loved our grandfather Mark. His passing seems so untimely. From my grandmother’s description he died of an aortic aneurysm. These two deaths so close together seem to devastate my dad. He never seemed the same after that. This post is titled in memoriam I will say the loss of my grandfather was hard to take. Loss of my mother I can say that I’ve never gotten over. Every Mother’s Day and memorial day I’m filled with thoughts of her. She had a huge heart. I’m not sure how she and her brothers were nothing like their parents. My mother’s love for us was so obvious and we were surrounded by this growing up. I look back and think how much she would have loved my wife and my children if she were still alive. I will follow this up with some of our history in part due to these losses in later posts.