My mother died this morning

About a week ago Mother fell down the stairs in the middle of the night. (We should have kept the hall light on!) They took her in an ambulance to intensive care at St. Michael's hospital.  I rode in the ambulance with her and stayed at the hospital overnight, and later made several visits.  She seemed to be recovering--though even when awake she was too drowsy to talk--and they even moved her out of the ICU.

But in the early hours today she passed on.  I wasn't there, but she was unconscious anyway.  They say it was a peaceful death.  We decided to cremate her through the Simple Alternative.  We'll bury her ashes at the cemetery in her hometown of Louisburg, Cape Breton, where most of her family is buried.  She was almost 94, a lot older than I thought she was. (I have a feeling there's a lot about her that I never learned.)

Of course, this family crisis is the reason I haven't been posting for the last week.  Father and Moira didn't want me writing about her state, or rather they felt that Mother wouldn't want it.  But that's moot now.  Life goes on:  on Wednesday the Coro Verdi had the end of year concert; on Thursday I returned the CENTENNIAL DVDs on time and got my blood iron level tested, also at St. Michael's so I combined it with a visit; on Saturday I hosted the latest Reading Out Loud Meetup, with the topic of closing passages. (Next month we'll do poetry again.)

Margaret came from Kingston on Friday, and when she returned today she took Moira with her for a few days.  Donald, John and Kathrine came over for dinner and we ordered Indian food.  At the moment Father and I are alone here.