Welcome Home Mom
My mom, always happy and engaged in life.
It’s been a long, hard slog.
On June 22nd, my mother went into hospital for open heart surgery. A day or two after the apparently successful surgery she had a major stroke.
Tomorrow she comes home after recovering the use of her right side, learning to walk again and regaining much of her strength. It looks like – we all hope – she is on the road to a full recovery.
Why do I write this on my blog ? Well, I simply have not been able to write about solo travel today. But there’s more.
With only a few exceptions, I have visited my mom in hospital every day for the past month. And throughout that time, I continued to post on schedule. But today I’m tired. It’s caught up with me. And I’ve been thinking about the fragility of life and why it seemed so important that I not miss one post. Why did I put that strain on myself?
Looking at what I wrote yesterday I realized, I was writing to myself. “The World Won’t Miss You for a While” tells us to put life in perspective. It reminds us that, in many ways, we are not that important. This is a similar spin but different application than I put to the poem yesterday.
While I feel that Solo Traveler makes a contribution, really, mom is far more important. The people in our lives are more important. Loving and supporting them through difficult times. Celebrating and rejoicing with them through accomplishments. These things are what really count.
Supporting mom through this struggle will continue for a while.
But today and tomorrow I’m celebrating her accomplishment.
Welcome home mom!
