Saturday morning I got a phone call from my Sister-in-law. I’d barely sat down with my coffee, my husband was still sound asleep. And she knows our normal schedules.
But it was indeed urgent. Her mother, my Mother-in-law, had collapsed in the middle of my Inlaws living room. Apparently a massive heart attack. The EMTs were working on her. But when I asked what hospital they were transporting to the response was “I don’t think they’re going to”. I went to wake up my Husband, and sure enough, less than 5 minutes later we had another phone call. They had not transported. She had likely been gone when she hit the floor, though the EMTs did their best.
She was due to retire in June. Age 65. No known heart conditions other than a murmur she’d had since childhood. She had been diagnosed with a colitis or Crohn’s or something (the doctors couldn’t make up their minds), and the doctors had been trying different drugs to try to get things under control. Maybe she’d had an undiagnosed condition and the drugs aggravated it? No way to know now, and no point to an autopsy. If that had been the case the doctors had been doing their best with the information they had.
Saturday afternoon spent at the funeral home figuring out arrangements. My Husband and his brother pretty well non-functioning, and my FIL not far behind them for all he put a good face on it. Thankfully my SIL had picked herself up and was able to help us answer questions, cause I sure didn’t know the answer to most of the questions.
Sunday was spent sorting through her accounts and financial paperwork to figure out what had to be paid right now to keep things functioning, who had to be called right now to keep things from going bad, and who could be put off a week two.
The funeral was Tuesday. Her family and her husband’s family are both very large (she was the youngest of 8 children), and so things were packed with cousins, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and so on. The family resemblance is strong, it was surprisingly easy to pick out who was from her side of the family.
Dear 2017, this really wasn’t how I wanted to start out my new year!
Oh, no. I am so sorry. Your whole family must be devastated.
I am so sorry for you and your husband’s loss. I hope it is a comfort that she went quickly and I hope you have good memories to tide you thru the bad times.