My mother's passing

My cousin Dianne (of the many !) has just called to let me know my mother died.
Dianne’s sister called me yesterday to tell me it was going to happen soon, so there is no surprise.
And, at 94.6 years old and in the hospital for the last 7 months, no one should have been surprised anyhow.

The joke that she waited until today so my wife would have a birthday present has already been made. And, not by me…

It’s been 10,798 days since she called me at work to tell me I was an embarrassment to her and the family.
I’ve had almost nothing to do with her in those intervening 29.56 years.
So, it isn’t leaving a hole in my life.

This summer she did say she was "sorry for all the trouble I gave you over the years".
That was more than I ever expected to get, but still not the "I was wrong to call you an embarrassment" I would have hoped for.
And, I knew it would never come. She could have lived 10,000 years and it would never come.
So, I didn’t have any hopes of anything better coming.

I’m sure there will be some kind of service.
She had set up lawyers and trust funds and such to take care of my brother.
So, it’s all in their hands now.