Go Not Gently…
My mother-in-law passed away this evening at 96 years of age. It was not an easy going. She literally starved herself to death; dying of thirst in the end. Nothing had passed her lips since last Friday, except morphine. A nose bleed for which she required hospitalization right after Thanksgiving marked the downturn in her condition. From that time on, she seemed to “give up”. The hospice care people call it “failure to thrive syndrome”. Yet, at the end, she seemed unwilling or unable to let go. The only thing keeping her alive was sheer force of will. Norma never took things easy, so I suppose it was predictable that her death would be no different. I wonder if the reason she hung on so was because she felt that Life had cheated her. She was wrestling with Life, demanding that it give her every bitter drop she had coming. That would be like her. A highly intelligent woman with an 8th grade education, she was fettered by the constraints of her upbringing and the culture in which she lived. Those who knew her well knew that she was not a particularly happy person. My hope for her these past 8 years being in the home was that she would, at long last, experience her share of happiness - to be cared for, to eat properly and to be given the medication she needed but would never take for herself. Dear, dear Norma, at last you are free. Tonight, you dance with the angels. I hope you do so with utter joy and exuberance!
Norma Anna Nack
Sep 26, 1909 - Feb 8, 2006
R.I.P
