Remembrance

Four years ago today, I left our home in New Jersey in a mad rush. I had to get to Rochester, New York as soon as possible, and nothing was going right. I was not originally going to leave until the next day, but news had come that my sister was not having a good day in the hospital, and was refusing phone calls.

To add insult to injury, two friends who had promised to stay with her until I returned, decided that she was fine, and left. I was upset, and as my daughter says, "Just a little pissed off."

Unfortunately, I only made it 1/2 way. Traffic, construction, and fog had made the trip much longer than usual, and I ended up staying with family instead of dropping off my husband at his parent's home and continuing to Rochester.

Calls along the way were taken by nurses on the Cardiac floor. They were vague and disturbing. I took to the den and prayed that she was doing better, but when my phone rang at 11:30 PM, my heart started to pound.

It was a doctor I had not met during my many days at Strong Memorial Hospital's CCICU. She quizzed me about my sister's health directive and living will, which I had with me. I had to go out to the car and retrieve it from the trunk.

Dr. Carter made me read it to her. I was a nervous wreck. I begged to talk to Ruby. She finally spoke to me. Our conversation was deeply personal and brief. When I asked her to wait for me to come in the early morning, she hung up on me.

She died 2 hours later.

My blip today is a photo of the front page of a memorial piece I wrote the night before her funeral. I recently found it, folded up and stuck in my daughter's piles of papers. She had kept it after I read it, and I almost threw it away while packing to move. (Good thing I recognized my printing.)

If you'd like to read the entire piece, you can do so at this link:
Remembrance

My Ink Project is a blog that I share with my friend Sj Heckscher. It's where I write when I need to say something longer than a Blip, yet shorter than a short story or novel.

Tomorrow is the 4th Anniversary of my sister's death. I will not be Blipping. See you on the other side of Friday.

Mel