A PASSING OF THE TORCH, AND SOME TIME AWAY

We were planning to go to Dallas next Friday, to celebrate an early Christmas with my family, but yesterday afternoon I got a call from my sister, saying that Mom had taken a turn for the worse - had been unresponsive the entire day. So, when the phone rang again at 3 AM, I knew exactly what I would hear.

I haven't really come to grips yet, with the fact that she is gone. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't begrudge her passing - she had a good long time here on earth, outliving her husband and most of her friends and siblings. She was never one to deal well with pain, either, yet that was all she had to look forward to upon awakening each day. Her vision, hearing and sense of taste were all but gone. Truthfully, I am happy that she has been released from her misery, and have great faith that she has gone to a better place.

And yet...it's just so hard to wrap my head around how quickly she went downhill, once we moved her out of my sister's house - especially since I didn't see the daily progression, as my sisters did. Most of all, though, I can't seem to digest the fact that my siblings and I are no longer "the kids." We are now "the old folks." John and I have just been promoted to patriarch and matriarch of our own little clan, and there is no longer any buffer generation separating us and the great beyond. Kind of scary, don't you think?

I will do my best to tie up loose ends today, then Lex and I will be heading up to Dallas. Not sure when I will get back to the computer, but I will be back, that is certain. Please keep checking in.