This was originally posted on my personal Facebook page on the 22/11/2021 the day after my mum passed away. As amidst the covid confused world of lockdowns, restrictions and border closures, we fought hard to be allowed to travel over state lines to be with her in her final moments.
Yesterday I got the privilege of being beside my mum as she took her very last breaths on earth. Something I will always be grateful for.
The past few days have been such a mix of emotions as some seriously ‘heaven sent’ timing played out, allowing the girls and I to cross the freshly opened border at 5am yesterday before reaching Victor Harbor in time to spend the last 2.5 hours of mums life by her side.
On Saturday morning, at home in Ballarat, I had a beautiful experience where I felt mum’s presence and I knew she was leaving us. She somehow told me that she loved me and that we would be together again one day. Such a blessing considering she had advanced Alzheimers and hadn’t communicated with us with more than smiles and giggles for years.
To get to Victor by yesterday was a battle. Crazy covid rules and regulations meant we couldn’t just drop everything and go. The compassionless system kept telling me ‘No’ despite my embarrassingly tearful pleading. ‘No there is no way we can let you come into SA the day before the borders open without 14 days quarantine’, ‘No there is no accommodation you can book within 150kms of the SA border to help save precious time - because everyone evidently needs to get to SA by 12.01am on Tuesday’, ‘No you and your family can’t get into the nursing home without flu shots, covid test, and vaccinations.’ And the list went on.
We ended up staying in Dimboola on Monday night and those 2.5 hours we saved on travel Tuesday are exactly the 2.5 hours I spent by mum's side. That, plus the 4am start yesterday, were some of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I was able to hold mums hand, chat to her about our lives, tease her a little about some of her eccentric ways, pray with her and tell her it was okay to let go and be with family who had already passed. I was reading her a favourite bible verse when she slipped away quietly. While it broke my heart to watch her go I know she truly is in a better place where she is free of her Alzheimers ravaged brain and most likely talking the legs of my brother and sister, my Dad, her parents ……. and frankly anyone else who will take the time to listen to her. (She loved to talk.)
82 years is not a bad life journey. It contained a lot of loss and heartache but also joy, faith and friendship. She loved her children and grandchildren and has left us all with crazy memories to treasure. From the bizarre foods she used to find at her favourite shop (NQR), her super thrifty ways (who else could actually save money on the single-aged pension) and her single-minded devotion to God. And then the heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious journey through Alzheimer's over the past 6 years. It was a good life mum and I am proud to have walked part of it with you as your daughter.
Until we meet again mum. I love you. Xx.
Comments