my mom died.It was on Saturday,March 8,2003.Much like yesterday which was also a Saturday and also March 8Th...She had gotten up to use the bathroom and somewhere between her bedroom and the bathroom,it became time for her to become reunited with my dad.....to become a member of the spirit we feel but cannot see.I remember getting up off my futon to see what had happened.She was half way propped up in the bathroom sitting Indian style which I thought a bazaar position to be in after falling.She took 2 big breaths and then did not breathe....I kept waiting and waiting for the next breath which was not coming.All I said was,"uh oh"....then went running through the house looking for a phone to call 911. I could not find a phone that was charged.I finally found my cell phone with one bar left in it's charging capacity.I kept dialing 911 but with a 1 before it...like it was long distance...I finally figured it out and got "911" on the phone.He walked me through rescue breathing and CPR...I had training in both but it went to hell in a hand basket when I tried to remember it by myself....I was glad he was there on my little one bar left charged battery cell phone.As I was "working on" my mother,she had not taken a breath in a while.I knew it wasn't good.All of the sudden I felt her "presence" no longer in her body but behind me...I felt her arms hugging me while I was trying to rescue her.I said to her,"I know you are here"......then the EMT's took over.
By this time,the surrounding neighbors were gathered outside my house.Emergency vehicles and police cars are a sure way to draw a crowd...even at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday.I came out with my Sponge Bob Squarepants pajama bottoms on waiting to see what the EMT's could do....which was nothing...They left a white sheet over my mom's body with her presence still booming in the bathroom.
I talked to police,the coroner,my sister,various neighbors and church members,received flowers,food,called work,and every now and then I would peep into the bathroom just to make sure mom was still there....her body and her presence.....still going strong....one neighbor closed the bathroom door so no one could see my mother on the floor...I went by and opened it back up....when the funeral home came to pick up "mom",my friends took me out back on the patio (I still had Songe Bob on).When I went back in the house,I walked by the bathroom and even though the body was no longer there,mom was.She remained until my sister and my nephew arrived from Morehead City some 6 hours later.
