Sad Day!

I talked to my mom this morning; she called to let me know that my dad's time was approaching. A little while later she called back to say he had passed. As you may imagine, it's been a sad day for us, but at the same time, it's been something of a relief. I understand from the nurses I talked to this past week that my dad was in some pain which was relieved by morphine, but of course that left him barely conscious much of the time. The last few weeks have been hard on everyone; we had really started our grieving last weekend when we knew his death was inevitable. Both my parents made arrangements some time back for cremation, and neither of them wanted a memorial service, so there's really not much that needs to be done other than informing relatives and taking care of the business end of things. I'll be going to work tomorrow and clearing up what I can, and then I'll probably take the rest of the week off, and spend some of that time with my mom.

My mom seems to be holding up fairly well. My brother and I have both talked to her several times today, although she didn't want us to come up just now. I'll go on Tuesday for the day, and my brother will come up near the end of the week.

In the meantime, between telephone calls, I did some sewing today and finished a small quilt top from a Jo's Little Women's Club pattern--photo above. I'm grateful to have my quilting to give me something to do at times like these. Even our weather here was somber with the sun peeking out only occasionally and a huge downpour around dinner time with thunder and lightening. My dad would probably joke that it was the sound of St. Peter slamming the gates shut when he saw my dad coming, but I'm sure that's not the case. I'll sure miss him and his great sense of humor and his smile!