The Cancer

After a long fight with cancer, my mother passed away peacefully this morning. It is a beautiful spring day. Sun is shining. Its reasonably warm. Mom liked these kinds of days, puttering around in the garden. Sitting at the table on the back deck, looking at it. All the flowers are blooming. I'll do my best to take care of her plants. Maybe plant some more she didn't feel ambitious enough to tackle. I've been maintaining Normal for her during the long fight, since last May, discovered only a week after I lost my job at the Poison Factory. Around about the time I fully detoxed from the worst of the poisons and could finally breathe properly, no more cyanide in my bloodstream, and the scars from TEAA healing, finally. We hiked, ate together, worked around the cancer treatments and recovery. She loved her garden.

Mom's garden is blooming today.

She fought hard, with chemotherapy, then miracle surgery at Stanford that ended up not working and causing her a lot of pain. The worst part was the false hope. It's cancer. In the end, it wins.

Mom loved hiking in the Sierras. 

Dad is in shock, but I'm making him eat, keeping him company, dealing with details he just can't handle right now, like dinner and tending to the yard and buying groceries. It's what I can do. Work was kind enough to allow me time off, and right now, functioning is what I need so I'm going to do some chores and just allow what I knew was going to happen for the last year to settle in. My brother is here helping with things. We're both grateful to him. My boss sent us flowers. Good people. I'm sure the tears will come. We're still all in shock to see her go down so quickly. At least she went peacefully in the end.