One chapter ends

Kathie died Friday. It was a gorgeous autumn day, with blue skies and sunshine. I don't know what the weather had been like in Las Vegas that day, but I hope it was just as nice.

Thursday night, we'd had a big storm. I awoke around midnight to rain against the window panes, and thunder booming overhead. My husband was awake next to me, and he put a hand on my hip, as I watched lightening flash, lighting up the sky outside our windows. I don't know if he was in need of comfort or if he thought I was. We both love storms, the bigger the better. I know, it's easy to enjoy them from the comfort of your own warm bed. You're right. It is.

We'd had bad weather the whole week. It had been dreary and drizzly for days. That bg storm brought an end to it, and brought the sun's warmth in its wake.

My husband had called me several times at work that morning. He'd been doing that more lately, I think for reassurance, knowing his mother's time with us was shortening each day. He called me around lunch time, as I was settling in to a salad. Kathie had died.

Even though we knew this day was coming, it was still a shock, which surprised me. I had no sooner put down the phone, my salad now forgotten, and I completely broke down. I went into the back room at work and cried like a baby.

I came home then, and washed dishes, made a pot of coffee, swept the floor. And then I cried some more. I didn't just cry, I wailed...loud and long.

I'll finish this later. That's enough for now.