Saturday. August 16, 2008 -Eva's 59th birthday.
Just as planned, I drove to Laurelville to pick Morgan up at Tar Hollow. As we left, I noticed several pink irises encircling our mailbox - they had to have come out of nowhere, because
they weren't there before! But they were so beautiful, I just had to pick them and bring them to Eva.
We stopped for lunch at Hardee's in Circleville, as is the tradition, then drove to Marion. My plan was to go straight up 23 to Columbus, then around on 270, and back to 23. Well, being the usually inept driver that I am, I missed the on-ramp to 270 (didn't see it at all), so I ended up taking 23 all the way through downtown Columbus. This took at least half an hour longer than I intended. Consequently, we arrived at Dad's at 3:00.
As we came in and settled down, it seemed to me that Eva was asleep, as she was making snoring noises. Mandie asked if I was going to say hello to her, and I replied that I thought she was sleeping. The conversation proceeded to how I was doing after my surgery, and I assured them I was fine. Just then, she started making choking noises (she had thrown up earlier in the day). Mandie and Dad rushed to her side, Heidi was feeding Janelle in the bedroom, someone made Aidan go out on the front porch, and Morgan and I stood there not knowing what to do to help. In just a matter of minutes, she was gone. We called Hospice, and had trouble getting hold of anyone. Eventually, we finally got the nurse on call (who was not the nurse we had spoken to originally), and he came to clean her up and help remove the body. While this was all happening, I was comforting Morgan in the kitchen. I soon wondered where Aidan was, so I went looking for him. When I found him on the front porch, I could tell he didn't understand why he was forced outside, so we sat and talked.
That evening, being Eva's birthday, we stood around the dining room table and sang the saddest rendition of "Happy Birthday" you ever heard in your life.
That night, I had trouble sleeping, and was up before dawn. As I lay on the couch, I looked out the front window, and saw a star, brighter than any 'I'd ever seen before, rise just before the sun. I knew at that point that everything and everyone would be fine.
The next week is somewhat of a blur, but we attended Open House for both kids, school started (I missed the first three days of school, but this being my first year teaching the all-day class, I had no students yet, so it wasn't a problem). The kids attended school on Wednesday and Thursday, and Mom & Charlie brought them to the viewing on Thursday night. The funeral was held on Friday. and she was buried at East Liberty. The funeral procession was interesting, being at least 16 cars long and a 45 minute drive. Following the burial, Dad's cousins arranged a dinner at the church in East Liberty. It was nice to have all the family together, though we prefer better circumstances.
It has taken me 6 months to write this because I just wasn't ready to relive the moments of that Saturday. But as I wrote, I realized I was already beginning to forget some of the details of the day. I'm glad to finally have everything recorded.
