OldTroubador's blog post - Good bye Mom

Dear Mom,
I want to thank you for being my Mom. I want to tell you what a special lady you are. And I want everyone to know it too.
Thank you for all the times you made feel better when I was sick. I wish I knew where you kept that stockpile of little toys that you would give me whenever I was in bed with a cold as a child. Those alone made me feel a lot better.
Thank you for the tenderness you showed every time I got hurt. Your kisses healed me faster than any Bactine or Band-Aid ever could.
Thank you for all the meals you made, all the desserts you baked. It seems like most of your life was spent in the kitchen, adding that one special ingredient ? love.
Thank you for all the laundry you did, keeping me presentable looking even when I did my best to stomp in every mud puddle I could find.
Thank you for teaching me right from wrong, even though I made those some of the toughest lessons for you to get through my head.
Thank you for all the time you spent with me.
Thank you for worrying about me, even though the worrying left you with many sleepless nights.
Mom, I am sorry for all the hurtful, hateful things I said to you growing up. When I think about them now, tears of shame sting my eyes.
Thank you for being a good sport whenever I picked on you or pulled a practical joke on you.
I was, and am still now, always proud to introduce you to my friends.
Thank you for being MY Mom.
You are the loveliest, prettiest, most loving lady I have ever known.
Mom, it?s been a great 50 years with you. And I hope we get 50 more to spend together.
And Mom, every time I picked on your cooking, teased you about your new hair color, re-arranged the drawers in the kitchen, used a leaf blower to put the tinsel on the Christmas tree, or filled the shower with balloons it all meant one thing ? I LOVE YOU.

I was going to write a treatise about the dementia that took Mom from us, but ? yeah. Let me end this by saying that I was blessed to have my Mom in my life for 55 years, 7 months, and 3 days. And our family was blessed in that Mom went in her sleep, finally free from the pain that wracked her, physically and emotionally for the last two years. And we were doubly blessed because Mom passed before the dementia stole so much of her memory that she forgot her own family. I was able to spend the best part of a day with her a few weeks prior, hugging her, her hugging me and each telling the other we loved the other. And the whole time there, she could not say my name enough. It meant that much to her to be able to say it. Spending that day with her, although melancholy, is still one of my best memories of her.
When she left, she was surrounded by her loved ones, including me. We all had a chance to tell her how much she meant to us, to hug her, kiss her, hold her hand. There were laughs as we shared stories, there were tears as we realized what all this meant. There was relief when we realized that she was released from her pain.
I went back on the road Thursday morning following. We will bury Mom in her family plot this coming Friday and have a memorial service on Saturday. I?ll take Sunday off, then back on the road again ? carrying not just freight, but the wonderful memories of the world?s most beautiful lady.
Mom
16 July 1934 ? 1 November 2017