The last three months of last year gone, and now I'm starting the third month of this year. It truly has been a whirlwind of sorts.
My Mom lives out of state, with my brother and step father. On average I've seen them for a few hours at a time, once a year. My boys haven't really had any time to get to know them at all, and while my step father is a cool guy, having only met him a handful of times he isn't high on my list of priorities. My brother, bless his heart, is pretty awesome. He is also mentally handicapped, but has a heart of gold. I decided that my family would go visit them for Thanksgiving and spearheaded an effort to get my sisters out to visit as well.
Rewind back to last Oct. Around the 19th of the month I get a call from my Mom. My step dad is having some issues and there is a blockage in his colon. They are going to be operating to remove the blockage a couple of days later. Come the 24th, I hadn't heard news so I called my Mom to find out how things went. Surgery went well however, bad news is they discovered advanced stage 4 cancer was the cause. I don't know that anyone could ever really be prepared for such news. My Mom's world just got rocked, and not in a good way. They hadn't really had time to process things, the shock still fresh in their mind, but they are attempting to be positive.
Two days later, while I was at work I get a call from my Mom in the middle of the day. This being out of character for her I answer the phone. I've never heard such pain in my Mother's voice before. My brother, with his heart of gold always looking for a way to help people, had gone out with a neighbor to help cut down some trees to use for firewood to get them through the winter months. During this act of service, a tree that was being cut down had fallen on, and killed my brother.
I left work, packed the family up and headed out to be with my Mom and step dad. The trip was long, the time spent there was short, and the knowledge that I would be going back a couple weeks later for Thanksgiving was comforting. The plan was to head back out on Nov. 17th and stay 9 days through the holiday.
While on my way to work on the 16th, my sister who had opted to stay with my Mom called me. My step dad passed on earlier that morning.