And so, the cycle is complete, life and death and death and life. There is no better way to assuage one's grief than to have a sweet babe placed in one's arms.
We've been pretty much holed up for two weeks with only forays out for necessities. I've only just begun to cook again after friends and family drove out with breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for all these days. It was an amazing outpouring of love to my family. Chelsea and Simon drove from New York with Hugo, arriving the day after my mother's death. Claire and their three children arrived a week later and filled the house with life. We've taken walks, visited in the wee hours of morning when Hugo couldn't sleep, been entertained by the antics of little ones, and mostly relaxed.
In two days everyone will have gone home and it will be time to pick up the pieces and take stock of what all just happened. I was in the mindset that I would be caring for Mom for some time to come. I quit my part time job last summer when she moved in with us and I hadn't thought much beyond her care through this coming summer. Now I'm here with nothing but empty time in front of me. It won't be wasted, but goodness it happened so fast.
One of my first tasks will be to go into Mom's room and handle her belongings. The few times I've forayed in there since she died were difficult, so I know this will be the hardest task. She lived and died in our home and memories of her are everywhere. But such is life. It is very, very beautiful and it is very, very sad and through it all, God is very, very good.
